Fluffy or firm bunkers? How do you decide?

[Stacey_E]

I had a hard time deciding which section to put this under, so I put it in the "catch all" category.

When you are evaluating bunkers for shot type and wedge makeup, how do you decide what is "fluffy" vs. "firm". They are somewhat subjective terms.

I'm trying to decide which bounce to go with in my new wedge setup. The bunkers at my course are often unkempt and hard, especially after a rain. Nobody on the "groundskeeping team" has EVER raked a bunker. Many times I think it's a low bounce situation. Sometimes however, I practice my bunker shots on an isolated hole and notice that it is almost imposible to get a lie where the ball doesn't fall down in a depression. It's driving me nutts trying to figure this out!

Is there some objective way to determine bunker...for a lack of better words..."fluffiness"? Our fairways are bermuda, and with a locally, notoriously under-educated and under-skilled owner, SHE has burnt them to hell. I want to go with a lower bounce, but I'm so confused on how to read the bunker conditions!!!

Help! Please?

[ryohazuki222]

When I enter the bunkers I kind of pick at it with my club (btw... been totally wondering if there were rules against something like this??) because we have two types of bunkers. We have fluffy ones (everything thats not the other kind falls under this category to me) which I could actually dig my club in several inches. Then we have the "rock bunkers" (i have a thread about those) that if I try to stick my club down through the sand it gets about a centimeter (if even!) before "clunk!"

[thedoxology]

I can't tell by your post, but you're not touching the sand before you play are you? If you are then that is illegal and carries a 2 stroke penalty.

Other than that, the firmer the sand the closer I pick the ball out of the sand, the fluffier the farther back. Also how close or far back you pick the ball will change your spin, the closer you pick you will create more spin.

[Stacey_E]

I can't tell by your post, but you're not touching the sand before you play are you? If you are then that is illegal and carries a 2 stroke penalty.

No I'm not doing that. In fact I wasn't asking how to play a shot at all. The question was how you categorize those conditions you encounter in the bunkers. Thanks though as that was good advice.