Competitors At BC Golf Championships This Summer Will Be Carrying 14 Clubs... And A Rake

By BRAZ ZIEMER, British Columbia Golf

Competitors at British Columbia Golf championships this summer will each receive their own mini-rake. “It’s kind of an interesting tee gift,” jokes Doug Hastie, senior manager of field operations and tournament director with British Columbia Golf.

It’s not really a gift, of course, but a way for players to be able to rake bunkers after playing shots out of them.

Hastie ordered 600 of them from a producer in Manchester, England, to hand out to competitors in provincial championships. Rakes have been removed from bunkers as part of COVID-19 protocol at most golf courses.

Hastie was hoping to find a way to not have to introduce a special bunker rule at provincial championships this summer. “I just did some searching on-line and I saw them mentioned in an article,” Hastie said.

“They're from Manchester. The guy was really good about it. They had some in stock before all this (COVID-19) started. It was something they were producing and marketing to golf courses and they suddenly are a hot commodity.”

Click here to see rake demonstration on YouTube. 

The mini-rakes can be clipped to golf bags and when needed they slide over the grip of a golf club and can then be used to rake bunkers. “He sounded like he was pretty busy,” Hastie said of the English distributor.

“They had some different colours and we ordered the green ones. They are apparently the most popular.”

With delivery included, the rakes cost about $11 each. “The first shipment arrived five days after I talked to him,” Hastie said.