Bunker Play

[Sandpiper3]

Ok, ill admit it, its my weakness (sparred me on to make the weakness thread).

Any tips? This is really the do or die part of my game, as soon as i start hitting a few bunkers i just start making bogies... I just can never find that good amount of sand, and when i hit a few chubby ones, then ill smoke one over the green by like 20 yards...

Tips and drills????? Plz

[HighTopFade]

I'm not one to give advice. But I do know that digging your feet into the sand will give you some idea of how the sand feels.

[Sandpiper3]

Trust me, understanding how the sand feels isnt my problem, i get all the mechnical parts of it and that, but i just cant do it.....

I dont know... and i cant practise it with my coach cause all the practise bunkers are frozen

[Fourputt]

Your bunkers are frozen? Hell, I can't even find a bunker here under the snow. I wouldn't worry about it that much this time of year.

Just a couple of things I focus on in a greenside bunker (I get the feeling that's what we're talking about here). I want to pick the club up fast, and hit down sharply just behind the ball, and FOLLOW THROUGH. If there is one mistake that I see most often in the bunker shots of the guys I play with it's failing to follow through. That almost guarantees that you will leave it in the sand.

I also don't try to be too cute with it. Trying to cut it too fine and spin it might look nice on TV, but it's woefully hard to do consistently in real life. I just blast it out and try to get within reasonable putting range. I also try to keep my legs very quiet, and my head as still as possible.

I'm not exactly the greatest sand player around, but I get up and down about 20% - 25% of the time, and at my very average handicap level, that isn't bad.

[Sandpiper3]

Yea, greenside bunkers, and yes theyre frozen (under the foot of snow...)

[Fastback]

i've had some good success with bunkers lately..i.e. get them up and onto the green with relative accuracy

What i do, and this is from what ive read:

• Point your feet at about 11 o'clock
• aim for 12 o'clock
• open your clubface to 1 o'clock (think \|/ drawn on the sand for your 11, 12 and 1 o'oclock setup)
• keep your body still, the less moving parts the better and have alot of your weight on your left foot
• aim to about an inch behind the ball
• dig your feet into the sand if you can, it helps to get under the ball (effectively lowering your whole body a tad)
• give it a steep back swing, ****ing the wrists pretty early
• Give it a pretty hard swing down, you need to fight through sand, so trying for a slow easy shot doesnt work from what ive found
• follow through, dont stop

Since i've adopted these steps, it hasnt failed me yet

[LyleG]

Acceleration through the ball. Decelerate and you are done like dinner.

I always try and picture the ball sitting on top of a dollar bill. The ball is right in the middle. I aim for the back of the bill, and swing hard enough to hit the sand to my landing spot.

[Pa Jayhawk]

First a few questions.

In the middle of the year when the bunkers are not frozen, or when you have the problems, how do your bunker primarily play? Soft, hard, wet?

Is there alot of sand or are they shallow?

Also what is the bounce on your 54*, and 60* and which do you primarily use out of the bunker?

Probably best to first determine if you have or use the proper clubs for the type of sand you play. A big part of my reasoning in switching my wedges this year was to account for the changes in bunkers in this area, as well as my tendancies.

I am not a terrible sand player, but I do a very good job at avoiding bunkers as it is still a weakness in my game. For me I will always take the green and a 30' putt as opposed to going at the pin with a high risk of finding the trap. I have a much better chance at 2 putting from 30-40 feet than getting up and down out of the trap from 20'

[demon]

I have always been really good out of bunkers and usually only one putt once I get out of greenside bunkers. I usually just imagine how hard I have to hit it if I were to cup my hand and throw the ball and the surrounding sand around it out. I have great hand eye coordination so this works for me, I also think about the wetness of the sand, how fluffy my lie is, how burried is my ball, etc...

I noticed that most people who worry about sand tend to hit into it a lot. I will be lucky to hit into a trap once or twice a round and hit a fairway bunker maybe once every four rounds if that.

[chemboy2]

I used to struggle with bunkers as well until I attended a short game clinic by Laird Small, Head PGA Pro @ Pebble Beach. The key points were set-up, acceleration, and the ball will go where the sand goes.

Wrt set-up, for all but extreme up/downhill lies, the ball should be just inside your front foot. Your weight should be favoring your front leg with your front ankle, hip, and shoulder in a vertical line. When it comes to up/downhill lies the key was getting your shoulders parallel with the lie. Also, when your on an up slope, the blade should be closed. A closed face allows you to dig into the up slope and pop the ball out.

Ever since I attended that clinic my sand game has improved dramatically and now when I step into a bunker I have absolutely no doubt that I will be able to get my ball out with a single swing.

Last little tid bit from the clinic. When asked how far behind the ball one should aim L.S. replied that it depended on what kind of trajectory you were after. He then proceeded to place three balls in a line in the sand. Took one swing and all three flew out of the bunker. The balls shot out at three different trajectories; high, medium, and low and all three balls landed within a foot of each other. Pretty damn impressive!

[MCDavis]

Originally Posted by aimr75

i've had some good success with bunkers lately..i.e. get them up and onto the green with relative accuracy

What i do, and this is from what ive read:

• Point your feet at about 11 o'clock
• aim for 12 o'clock
• open your clubface to 1 o'clock (think \|/ drawn on the sand for your 11, 12 and 1 o'oclock setup)
• keep your body still, the less moving parts the better and have alot of your weight on your left foot
• aim to about an inch behind the ball
• dig your feet into the sand if you can, it helps to get under the ball (effectively lowering your whole body a tad)
• give it a steep back swing, ****ing the wrists pretty early
• Give it a pretty hard swing down, you need to fight through sand, so trying for a slow easy shot doesnt work from what ive found
• follow through, dont stop

Since i've adopted these steps, it hasnt failed me yet

This is how my dad taught me to play greenside bunkers many, many years ago. I am out of bunkers and in good shape 90% of the time, literally. I simply have no fear of a sand trap.

My wife just started playing a few months ago. I showed her the above method and stressed to her to accelearate all the way through the stroke. She has been in quite a few bunkers over her 8-9 rounds and has yet to need more than 1 stroke to get out. Yeah, she's overshot the green once or twice, but look how little she's played.

Go practice what aimr said, lose the fear of the trap, and you'll do well.

[Pa Jayhawk]

One technique tip I did see on a show that had techniques of many pro's out of the sand. A number of pro's mentioned this. After you take your open stance, angle your back toe back open slightly as well and dig in, which is supposed to naturally make you use more of the upper body in the swing. Seemed to help me.

[HighTopFade]

Originally Posted by Sandpiper3

Yea, greenside bunkers, and yes theyre frozen (under the foot of snow...)

Wow! I can't imagine. I don't think I can move out of California.

[SiberianDVM]

On one round last weekend I was in 15 bunkers, counting fairway and greenside. Needless to say, I did not post a good score.

Normal lies in bunkers are not a big deal, and I'm getting better with all of the practice.

Bad lies are a whole other deal. I had a couple where the ball was just under the front lip and my stance was outside or 1 foot outside the bunker. Horrible, I tell you. Hit it and hope.

[emc]

The TW technique. Set everything up open to the target and point the club facing right of the target for the righties. Then cut across it. This helps you get the ball up quicker and allows you to be aggressive.