Rules Guy: What do you do if sand covers your ball as you address it in the bunker?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

During a recent tournament, my ball landed in the face of a bunker — fried egg. While trying to gain a stance I caused a small avalanche, and the ball was covered with sand. I knew where the ball was under the sand, but I decided not to take a blind hack at it. Instead, I took an unplayable lie, lateral relief within the bunker and a one-stroke penalty. Did I follow the rules?
— Daren Cubbedge, via email

Maybe because ours is a morning game, at least for those of us who wish to play 18 in under five hours, golf is filled with breakfast lingo. Fried-egg lies. Ham-and-egging-it as partners. Bacon strips on the range. Nevermind former LPGA pro Brooke Pancake, who was sponsored by Waffle House. Suddenly, Rules Guy craves a coffee… But we digress.

As long as your ball was definitively identified before it disappeared and dropped within a reasonably estimated two club-length area, then the procedure was acceptable under Rule 19.2c.

For more bunker-related guidance from our guru, read on …

My approach shot landed in a greenside bunker. When I thumped my sand shot, my ball appeared to have split! In fact, there was a range ball just under the sand right behind and under my ball, which my wedge had hit. Both balls moved forward about 4 feet and remained in the bunker. Did I have the option to replay my shot? My partner said I didn’t, and it probably cost us $20, because we had four carryovers on the hole. 
—Matt Biel, Los Angeles, Calif.

I’m sorry for your loss, Matt. On the bright side, your partner knows his rules. You made a stroke at your own ball. Even though another, abandoned ball was dislodged in the process, you’re not considered to have played the wrong ball, and there is no option to replay the stroke for free. (Also on the bright side, there is no penalty, either — cold comfort, I know.)

That buried ball is a movable obstruction, so you would have been allowed to move it had you noticed it prior to making your stroke. Of course, seeing a buried object is a rather neat trick; instead, you were a victim of rather bad luck. Every golfer knows the feeling at some point.

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Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.