I moved sand affecting my ball's lie while searching — what now?

No penalty if you re-create the original lie in the sand. Under Rule 7.1b, you must restore the lie as it was, but you may leave a small part of the ball visible if it was covered by sand. If you play without re-creating the lie, you get the general penalty (two strokes).

What Rule 7.1b requires you to do

When you're searching for your ball in a bunker and you move sand that was affecting the lie, you have to put the sand back so the lie is exactly as it was before you touched it. The only concession is that if the ball was completely buried, you don't have to bury it again — you can leave a small part of the ball showing. This applies whether you moved the sand with your hand, a club, your foot, or anything else while looking for the ball.

What counts as a fair search

Rule 7.1a lets you take reasonable actions to find and identify your ball, including moving sand and water. There's no penalty for improving the conditions affecting your stroke if the improvement comes from a fair search. But if you do more than what's reasonably needed to find the ball — like flattening sand way beyond the search area, digging aggressively, or moving sand after you've already found the ball — that's not a fair search anymore. The interpretation to 7.1a gives examples: purposely removing growing things or breaking branches when you didn't need to. In a bunker, the equivalent would be raking or smoothing sand that didn't need to be moved to find the ball.

If you play without fixing the lie

If you hit the ball without re-creating the original lie, you get the general penalty. In stroke play that's two strokes added to your score for the hole. In match play it's loss of hole. You can't avoid this by saying you didn't mean to improve the lie — the rule is strict: the lie must be restored before you play. The penalty applies even if the lie ended up worse than before; the requirement is to put it back as it was, not to make it better or worse.

Exceptions that change the answer

• Your actions while searching go beyond what's reasonable to find the ball → You get the general penalty (two strokes / loss of hole) under Rule 8.1a for improving conditions affecting the stroke, even if you later re-create the lie.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to bury the ball again if it was completely covered by sand?

No. Rule 7.1b explicitly allows you to leave a small part of the ball visible if it had been covered by sand. You don't have to bury it completely.

What if I accidentally kick sand onto the ball while searching — is that the same?

Yes. Any sand you move that affects the lie must be restored, whether you moved it with your hand, foot, club, or anything else. The rule doesn't distinguish between deliberate and accidental movement during search.

Can I smooth the bunker with my foot or a rake before I play after finding the ball?

No. Once you've found the ball, any further smoothing or raking that improves the lie is not part of a fair search. That would be a breach of Rule 8.1a and carries the general penalty.

What if the lie is worse after I put the sand back?

You still have to play it as it lies after re-creating the original lie. You don't get a better lie, and you don't get relief just because the restored lie is bad. The requirement is to restore the original condition, not to improve it.

Does this rule apply outside bunkers too?

Rule 7.1b specifically mentions sand, so it applies anywhere sand affects the lie — bunkers, waste areas, sandy patches in the general area. The same principle applies: restore the original lie.