Friendly Deception

What is a ‘loose impediment’ and can you move one if you are in a bunker?

My buddy and I were playing a match last summer. On the 17th hole, my friend’s third shot landed in a greenside bunker.
When he got to his ball, there was a twig from a tree above the bunker and a burnt out cigar surrounding his ball.
He said because the twig and cigar were ?loose impediments? he could move them both out of the way before he hit his ball. Since I had never even heard of the term ?loose impediment,? I figured he knew what he was talking about so I allowed him to move both objects out of the bunker before he hit his shot. Sure enough, he went up and down and won the hole and the match.
When we got back to the clubhouse some of the guys at the bar said he cheated. They said that when you’re in a bunker, you are not allowed to move anything, regardless of whether or not it’s a “loose impediment.” They said, “that’s why it’s called a hazard.”
Now I’m totally confused. Who has the rule correct and did my friend cheat me out of our match?
- S.S., Topsfield, Mass.

North Shore Golf asked David Nyman, head professional at Middleton Golf Club, to clarify the situation for us:

Both your friend and the guys at the bar are wrong. Your friend should not have moved the twig, but was allowed to move the burnt cigar, and here is the reason:

In the rules of golf, ?loose impediments? are defined as natural objects such as stones, leaves, twigs, branches, and the like, dung, worms, and insects and casts or heaps made by them, provided they are not fixed or growing, are not solidly embedded, and do not adhere to the ball. You may not move loose impediments in a bunker. The twig is a natural object and the cigar is not.

Even though you may say tobacco is a natural object, it was transformed by manufacturing or construction into the cigar, thus becoming an obstruction, which can be moved in the bunker.

Other examples of obstructions would be a soda can, paper cup or candy wrapper.

If this situation occurred in the fairway, both objects could be moved without penalty.