Fairway Bunker Shots

[aleph]

I grew up playing courses that had no fairway bunkers and always found this to be a trouble spot in tournaments. Now at my home course there are fairway bunkers on every driver hole- and every one of them is relevant to me distance wise.

Currently I'd say I hit 1 in 3 well, the miss is always fat when I try to strike it pure. My most successful thought for the shot is to try to hit it a little thin.

I try to keep my legs quiet but it's very hard. My feeling is that I'm too active and sinking my feet further into the sand.

I hit one club extra, try to choke up a bit, don't know whether to try to stay on top of the sand or just plant yourself like you would a greenside bunker shot?

 

[Lihu]

Unless there’s a deep lip, I try to hit out just a little thin. Works most of the time, Too fat seems to end up chunking or digging too deep where either lose a ton of distance.

These FW bunkers are marked light gray in my shot zones, but ideally I would want to avoid them. If too tired, I might just hit shorter and take a longer club on the approach or just another shot.

[Piz]

All I think of, in a fairway bunker, is where would I like to play from next.  Sometimes the answer is anywhere but here.  Most of the time I can improve on that without too much difficulty.  In the best case scenario I use my hybrid.

I'd rather challenge the bunker than not.  If I wind up in it...it's just another opportunity to excel.

[Patch]

First thing I look at is what, if anything do I need to clear to get out the bunker. That tells me what club(s) I can, and can't use. 

If I can use a club that will give the distance needed, that's great. If not, getting out of the bunker, and advancing the ball is good enough. 

In Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, he tells a story of a golfer who comes to him, who desparately wants HP to show him how to get out of a bunker. HP tells he will, but will first instruct him how not to get in the bunker to begin with.

I always thought that staying away from hazards was sound advice. .