Best Bunker Play Tips Please!.

[halifax_golfer]

Bunkers have been my nemisis the last couple weeks on the golf course. Yesterday was really rough, as I unfotunatly "Chipped" into two different greenside bunkers , one of the shots I barley got out, the other I guess I didn't take enough sand, hit it over the green and OB. I actually hit another Over the green OB aswell!!!.. . Stinkin bunkers RUINED my score yesterday, and are starting to play with my head!.

I need some serious bunker tips!, I've lost all confidence in my bunker play and I'm totally un-sure of everything when I get in there!.. I'd rather hit a 120yrd bunker shot right now then a greenside bunker shot. I dunno anymore if I should play the ball nearer the front or back of my stance, do I just make a normal pitch/chip swing?, Do I have to take the club away more up-right?. How far behind the ball do I really need to take?, Do most people choke down on there club a bit while hitting greenside bunker shots?

DOH!.. I really need some help here as I can't let bunker play kill my scores, theres no reason I cant get in a bunker and have the confidence that I'm gona get it out properly!.

Please HELP ME!,

Chris.

[zaphod]

First of all get in a bunker and practice. Swing fearless. Generally its the same as a lob shot.
Drive sand from behind the ball and in front of the ball onto the green
Be sure to shift your weight to your front side after contact.
A shallower arc swing.

#1 get into the bunker and practice to develop "feel"

[fisher]

Choke down.
Get your belt buckel facing the target.
Accellerate thru the shot.
Open the club face then take your grip. Don't cheat opening the club face by manipulating your hands or wrists.
Manage your shot distance by manipulating your finish.
Never ever decelerate durring the shot. Foot on the gas pedal all the way thru the finish.

[wirehair]

Depends on the sand. On munis with hardish bunkers, I'll just "clip" it out with an open face. Softer sand do what Zaphod and Fisher said.

[mddubya]

The best bunker tip I can give you,

Avoid them like the plaque!!!!!! (can't believe nobody beat me to it)


Other than that, follow the advice you've been given, but with the club face open, don't think the harder you swing, the further the ball will go, swing too hard and you'll just cut under it completely.

[mont86]

I loosen my grip and relax.

[halifax_golfer]

Thanks so far... I only had one bunker shot this morning in the windy rain (shot 88, wife shot 93). Anyways, my bunkershot was one of those "fried eggs" (is that what it's called?), and the sand wasn't that wet yet. I think I had to play it with a closed face, and so I did, and I hit my first good bunker shot in like a week.

Thanks for the tips, its nice to have some solid fundementals to think about!. They will help me out next time I'm in.

Keep some bunker play tips commin. .

Fr. Chris.

[ezra76]

I keep my weight on my front foot, no big weight shift. I think of it as an agressive short pitch shot. My stance is open to get the club moving out to in and utilize the bounce of the club open through impact. The weight forward also encourages an earlier wrist set and a steeper swing, same thing I use from thick rough.

I too would much rather hit a full yardage bunker shot than a greenside bunker. Of course I'd rather hit perfect lie, low lip bunker shot from 120-150 than off the fairway. The greenside key for me is make and agressive swing and take the sand out. Don't get cute trying to catch it more clean. When you hit one thin, that's what happened. When you hit one fat, it's usually because of deceleration.

[sssmokin]

zaphod Re: Best Bunker Play Tips Please!.
First of all get in a bunker and practice. Swing fearless. Generally its the same as a lob shot.
Drive sand from behind the ball and in front of the ball onto the green
Be sure to shift your weight to your front side after contact.
A shallower arc swing.

ezra76 Re: Best Bunker Play Tips Please!.
I keep my weight on my front foot, no big weight shift. I think of it as an agressive short pitch shot. My stance is open to get the club moving out to in and utilize the bounce of the club open through impact. The weight forward also encourages an earlier wrist set and a steeper swing, same thing I use from thick rough.

Okay, which one is it???

[ezra76]

Originally Posted by sssmokin

Okay, which one is it???

Can be either. If you want to play more of chunk and runner with the ball riding on a lot of sand, no spin, go shallow/flat. If you want to minimize the sand between the club and ball and spin the shot, go steeper. I went steep with my 60* last week and spun the ball back on a shot that went about 8feet.

[halifax_golfer]

Think I understand the basics... Hopefully I can make some decent shots and avoid the bunkers, but If I mess up... I'm sure this all will help out. I'll try to get a bit of bunker practice in this week if the rain ever lets up.

From
Chris.

[ezra76]

Bunker shots are not that hard. A pitch shot sitting down in the greenside rough should be much tougher. It's just you don't get much practice. When I play alone I like to try to throw a few balls into a few bunkers just to hit a few.

[fisher]

Here is a trick to try.....

If you don't have to get up over much of a lip, try holding the 60* or 56* toe down so only the toe of the club will contact the sand. Play it well back in your stance. Now just hit it like a normal chip. The ball will come out low and roll out. Sounds strange but its so easy. Works well with fried eggs and uphill lies where you have room for the ball to roll out. A pro showed me this trick a while back. Try it, you might be surprised.

[twofast2s]

Originally Posted by halifax_golfer

Bunkers have been my nemisis the last couple weeks on the golf course. Yesterday was really rough, as I unfotunatly "Chipped" into two different greenside bunkers , one of the shots I barley got out, the other I guess I didn't take enough sand, hit it over the green and OB. I actually hit another Over the green OB aswell!!!.. . Stinkin bunkers RUINED my score yesterday, and are starting to play with my head!.

I need some serious bunker tips!, I've lost all confidence in my bunker play and I'm totally un-sure of everything when I get in there!.. I'd rather hit a 120yrd bunker shot right now then a greenside bunker shot. I dunno anymore if I should play the ball nearer the front or back of my stance, do I just make a normal pitch/chip swing?, Do I have to take the club away more up-right?. How far behind the ball do I really need to take?, Do most people choke down on there club a bit while hitting greenside bunker shots?

DOH!.. I really need some help here as I can't let bunker play kill my scores, theres no reason I cant get in a bunker and have the confidence that I'm gona get it out properly!.

Please HELP ME!,

Chris.

nothing like a bad score b/c of bad bunker play. it's more of feel and getting use to the feeling of hitting out of sand. you just gotta practice few times in the bunker and you should be able to get comfortable.

next time you're out, take couple of shag balls, and if there aren't people waiting, go ahead and throw some in the bunker and just hit it out few time. you'll get adjusted to it real quick. be smooth, just like anything else.

[halifax_golfer]

Thanks again for the tips... I did get in some bunker and other short game practice yesterday. I think I did get a feel for the type of shot required, however most of the bunkers were a bit wet yesterday.

I enjoyed the tip about closing the face, only toe down into the sand, and just chip it out. That's a neat little shot, and very easy to execute.

I really found it important for me to get my lower body (hips) to turn through and accellerate into/through the shot... When I forgot to do this I was just chunking them barely out of the bunkers.

Unfortunatly for me, I find one of my more common misses out of the bunkers is still catching the shot a bit thin. It's producing a nice high shot, but those thinly caught bunkershots fly WAY over the intended target!... Any tips to help avoid catching it thin in bunkers, I'm finding taking the proper amount of sand to be the toughest part about bunker shots.

From, Chris.