bunker shot help

Well I ended up in a bunker today on two separate occassions. It was at a course I've never played at, my home course doesn't have bunkers so I don't have much experience with these shots.

I was in a bunker in front of the green today, probably had 7 yards to the pin with the edge of the bunker about a yard in front of me and the lip about a foot above my ball.

So I take my 60* wedge, open the face way up, open may stance, take my stance, all that stuff(I've know my setup is good) and take about a 1/2 swing and the ball plops right in front of me again. I hit about an inch and a half behind the ball(which is recommended if I remember right).

I did this a 2nd time again, 3rd time I finally got it out with a full swing about 2 yards past the hole, so I guess it went 9-10 yards from where I hit it.

Is this about the distance I can expect a 60* wedge(opened all the way up) to go from a bunker?

I don't ever get to practice these shots so I have to do my best just to avoid bunkers at all costs when playing at courses that have them(which is not real often).

is your ball position towards the front foot and the weight on your front foot? practice sand shots at your local course or nearby beach, any beaches in South Dakota? then local golf course.

I think it's something you may have to practice a bit. I would also suggest looking at the ball position. It should be up front. However, I've found on uphill bunker shots I actually need to play the ball *back* in my stance. Haven't really understood why it works, but it does. The other thing is that you need to follow through with a bunker shot, many amateurs don't do that. You may also have the face a bit too far open.

But again, I suggest trying to get some bunker practice in so you can figure out what works and what does not work with you.




3JACK

yep, definitely takes some practice. being close to the lip could make things more difficult too, but it sounds like the lip didn't come into play? but yeah, if the sand is light and fluffy you do need to hit pretty hard to power the ball out of it. if the sand is less fluffy ya don't need to hit it nearly as hard though. you'll need to feel how fluffy the sand is when you step in it and if you have a further shot, you may want to use less loft than 60*. i've not actually hit a 60 from the sand, i normally use a 52, and if it is a greenside bunker that is further from the green will sometimes hit pw if it is real fluffy stuff.

It sounds to me like you aren't accelerating through the ball. On explosion sand shots like what you'd hit in that situation, you have to swing hard and trust that you aren't going to hit the ball 50 yards past the hole. If you second-guess in the slightest bit and back off, you'll hit right in front of you just like you did. One thing that helps with this is making sure your finish is high and that you swing all the way through. This helps in making yourself not decelerate.

You are right, I did do that the first time now that I think about it.

Sorry, forgot to mention that. Yes, ball position was up in my stance, inside my left foot, with weight on my left side at impact. No beaches around here, maybe I'll get to the course one of these days when it's not busy so I can practice.

Thanks for the tips everybody.

That full swing you took sounds about right. When you open a 60* way up, you won't get much distance. I prefer to open it about 40*. I usually use about a 3/4 swing and one of the important things is to continue the follow-through, don't stop in the sand. That will force you to come at it a bit more shallow, which is probably what happened to the first few (too steep a swing). It still needs to be steeper than a regular shot, just not TOO steep.

There is no way to judge the distance the ball will fly without practicing it. It's an entirely new club in your bag basically. It would be like buying a 73* wedge and then not practicing it until you get onto the course... then try to guess how far it will fly.

So get an hour or two of practice and you should be good. Remember, hitting a consistent distance behind the ball is the key.

If you have really long bunker shots (over about 15 yards), I usually club down to using a 56* or even a 52* and sometimes even a PW (when it's like 40 yards from fluffy sand).

in hard sand, i play it like i'm chipping a normal shot from a bad lie. hit down on the ball, and just pretend its not sand, with the ball in the middle to the back of your stance. but don't hit it too hard, or you'll fly the green.