Drew's Tip Of The Month
How To Fix Your Bunker Blues
Getting out of bunkers (the term sand trap is not recognized by the USGA) can be easier than you think if you follow a few simple guidelines. Depending on your lie in the sand, your progression toward bunker success should be as follows:
- Get the ball out.
- Get the ball on the green.
- Get the ball close.
Use a sand wedge that has a flange and bounce that compliments the type of sand that you play regularly. The best way to play out of soft sand is with a sand wedge with a bigger flange & more bounce and the reverse is true out of firmer sand conditions.
If your lie is not too bad, rotate the grip of the club within your hands so that the clubface opens and faces up toward the sky at address. For shorter bunker shots open the club face more and longer shots less. Doing so will give you full use out of the bounce on the wedge for the shot at hand. The more you open the face to the right, the more you need to aim your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders to the left of the target (for the right-handed golfer) to allow the open clubface to point toward the target. Your leftward body lines will also determine you swing direction. It is not an outside-in swing. It is your normal swing to the left. Move the ball forward in your stance three inches. Why forward? In the sand, you want to hit the sand first and take a dollar bill size sand divot directly under the ball. Therefore, the ball is moved forward so the ball is directly above the middle and bottom of the sand divot. You can now aggressively spank the sand without fear of hitting the ball first.
Dig your feet into the sand and feel the sand’s firmness. The more your feet dig in, the more you lower yourself into the sand which means that you should grip down on the club accordingly. Place 70% of your weight onto your target side leg and foot. Keep it there throughout the motion.
The club and ball never make contact during the swing. The force of the club moving the sand causes the sand to move the golf ball. You control the distance that you hit the shot by the length of your follow through. Short bunker shots have a shorter follow through and finish, and longer bunker shots need a longer follow through and finish.
How much of a follow through do you need? Again, because the club never contacts the ball, a longer swing is required to get the ball out of the sand. Focus on using the same amount of energy on your bunker shots as you would use of a pitch shot of twice the distance. For example, a 10-yard bunker shot requires you to swing as if it were a 20-yard pitch shot.
Still having trouble getting out of the sand? Picture that the ball in the bunker is sitting on top of a tee that has been pushed into the sand. Just spank the sand and clip the tee out from under the ball.
Practice your bunker shots and your confidence will grow. You won’t be afraid to go for the flag when you know a missed hit shot that may end up in the bunker will not be a problem. Keep Swinging!
