Fairway Bunkers!

[The master]

I have never played better golf than I am at the moment, but anyway on Saturday in the monthly medal, I had about 150 yards to the green from a fairway bunker and chunked it about 90 yards into another bunker cost me a double on the 18th. I was level playing the last and thinking under par, ended up with 73 great!

Anyway I have never had any consistency from fairway bukers I would hit a good shot from one 1/10, it is usually fat or thin. Any tips?

[Andy_79]

Where is it you play again, man - Clandeboye ? That is one tough first hole. It's fairly stupidly indexed as well, if I remember correctly.

I try to not bite off what I can't chew & play a sensible shot. Try playing out to a designated fairway position; ie. a simple recovery shot that will leave you confortable 8-iron / wedge / whatever distance away.

Depends on the type of sand, and what the lip is like, but I will refrain from burying my feet into the sand like you might with a greenside bunker shot, and instead do it very little. I will lighten my grip pressure & make a 3/4 smooth swing, clipping the ball off the sand. Aiming a fraction left of intended target might also be advised.

[Bravo]

TM:

I guess I am like any player, many weaknesses and a few strengths. For some weird reason, fairway bunkers are a strength. Our course has a ton of them and I've made quite a few pars out of them and a few birdies. My playing teammates like to see my shots fly in there...we place a high wager value on 'trash' and sandy pars from fairway bunkers are a great way for me to get some trash for our team. If I don't face a high lip, I'll go in there with just about any club in the bag....you will find that you can hit any of your clubs out of the sand as long as the ball is on top of the surface and looks clean...

My thoughts:

1) Obviously, you want to hit a shot that is on the verge of being 'thin'...you cannot take virtually any depth of sand. So my technique is to focus my eyes hard on the back of the ball (vs a greenside bunker where your eyes are focused on an area of sand behind the ball). Ideally, your club enters the sand on a very shallow plane about a half inch behind the ball and sweeps upward. Your swing thought is 'pick it clean'.

2) I always select one extra club, i.e., if I were hitting a 6 iron from the fairway or rough from a particular distance, I would select a 5 iron from an equivalent distance coming from a fairway bunker.

3) Agree with Andy to aim to the left of the target. I find that balls coming out of fairway bunkers often fade. I think this is because your feet are not as "anchored" to the ground as they are when you are standing on grass/turf. As a result, when you start your downswing, you often get some rotation of the feet in the sand, which causes an out to in swing path - causing the fade...

Last, for a good player like yourself, if you can get any reasonable sort of practice time out of a fairway bunker, you can learn to hit it out of them pretty easily. A half hour of practice time at your range should teach you fairly well how to do it...

[The master]

Originally Posted by Andy_79

Where is it you play again, man - Clandeboye ? That is one tough first hole. It's fairly stupidly indexed as well, if I remember correctly.

I try to not bite off what I can't chew & play a sensible shot. Try playing out to a designated fairway position; ie. a simple recovery shot that will leave you confortable 8-iron / wedge / whatever distance away.

Depends on the type of sand, and what the lip is like, but I will refrain from burying my feet into the sand like you might with a greenside bunker shot, and instead do it very little. I will lighten my grip pressure & make a 3/4 smooth swing, clipping the ball off the sand. Aiming a fraction left of intended target might also be advised.

I just play at Bangor now I use to play at Clandyboye, had to chose one and Bangor has been my home since day one. But yea the first is quite tough at C'boye, demands a good drive and the green is well guarded by bunkers. Not as bad as the 4th though.

I think the sand, very hard and I personally feel there is not enough of it in the bunkers at Bangor, the club sometimes struggles to get through it. I try to get more of the ball first then sand, but I think I just need to practice the shot.

[The master]

Originally Posted by Bravo

TM:

I guess I am like any player, many weaknesses and a few strengths. For some weird reason, fairway bunkers are a strength. Our course has a ton of them and I've made quite a few pars out of them and a few birdies. My playing teammates like to see my shots fly in there...we place a high wager value on 'trash' and sandy pars from fairway bunkers are a great way for me to get some trash for our team. If I don't face a high lip, I'll go in there with just about any club in the bag....you will find that you can hit any of your clubs out of the sand as long as the ball is on top of the surface and looks clean...

My thoughts:

1) Obviously, you want to hit a shot that is on the verge of being 'thin'...you cannot take virtually any depth of sand. So my technique is to focus my eyes hard on the back of the ball (vs a greenside bunker where your eyes are focused on an area of sand behind the ball). Ideally, your club enters the sand on a very shallow plane about a half inch behind the ball and sweeps upward. Your swing thought is 'pick it clean'.

2) I always select one extra club, i.e., if I were hitting a 6 iron from the fairway or rough from a particular distance, I would select a 5 iron from an equivalent distance coming from a fairway bunker.

3) Agree with Andy to aim to the left of the target. I find that balls coming out of fairway bunkers often fade. I think this is because your feet are not as "anchored" to the ground as they are when you are standing on grass/turf. As a result, when you start your downswing, you often get some rotation of the feet in the sand, which causes an out to in swing path - causing the fade...

Last, for a good player like yourself, if you can get any reasonable sort of practice time out of a fairway bunker, you can learn to hit it out of them pretty easily. A half hour of practice time at your range should teach you fairly well how to do it...

Thanks for your views and tips, I will take them on board. I usally do take the extra club and grip down a inch or so.

I'm going to work on it this weekend see if I can get an hour in a buker.

[Andy_79]

Sh1t, I meant to write "last" hole there.

Yeah, you're close to "thinning" out of these fairway bunkers as Bravo says. If you have good hand/eye co-ordination - and I assume you do, having a low h/cap - then this type of shot should present no significant problem after a wee bit of practice...

[The master]

Originally Posted by Andy_79

Sh1t, I meant to write "last" hole there.

Yeah, you're close to "thinning" out of these fairway bunkers as Bravo says. If you have good hand/eye co-ordination - and I assume you do, having a low h/cap - then this type of shot should present no significant problem after a wee bit of practice...

LOL- There was a challenge tour even at C'boye last year laods of the tour players struggled with the 18th, so hitting it down by the wall on the left.

Yea, lets hope so, it would be nice ot be confident over this shot.

I am also going ot post my swing in the next few days, it's been a while and my swing has improved a good bit "I think".

[Andy_79]

I pulled my second shot in there and bounced over the wall into the car park. It rolled to the very bottom of the car park - end of the driveway in - and I collected it on my way outta there. No lie.

Mate was a few groups ahead of me and watched my approach. he says it bounced over a group of people making their way into the clubhouse, then over the bonnet of a car. Absolutely shocking

[The master]

Originally Posted by Andy_79

I pulled my second shot in there and bounced over the wall into the car park. It rolled to the very bottom of the car park - end of the driveway in - and I collected it on my way outta there. No lie.

Mate was a few groups ahead of me and watched my approach. he says it bounced over a group of people making their way into the clubhouse, then over the bonnet of a car. Absolutely shocking

Happens to the best of us lol, mine was just directly over the green flushed a 9 iron or something down wind, and it just kept going, hit a renuault clio, I just walked of the course, and prentended nothing happended.

[JasonMacIsaac]

When I play out of them I put it back of my stance, don't shift the weight back much and swing. It usually comes out solid or a little thin, which doesn't hurt.

[Pa Jayhawk]

For whatever reason I play good out of fairway bunkers. The joke with the people I play with is that I play better out of a fairway bunker than I do off the fairway. It may be true, probably because I concentrate more. As mentioned earlier I aim left, take a club more and two if my stance will not allow for a natural swing. I infact pick the ball clean, no reason to let the sand enter the equation. I take a normal swing.

Anyways, one thing I have a tendancy of doing that helps me. This may just be mental, but has always made sense to me. I choke up on the club just slightly. The reason is that I have always felt you set you stance in the sand, which actually lowers your body in relation to the ball because you sink in the sand. My thought process is that I am hitting say a 7i, well if I am lowering my body in relation to the ball, and hit a 7i it will be fat and go maybe 30 yards. If I choke up it will not. Again, I think this is just a mental note that tells me I can still take a normal swing out of the sand and everything is accounted for. I have a club more already, and sometimes two, so this is not an issue on distance.

Something else that I will include, that I am sure many already do and know, but for the benefit of those that do not know. To test the angle to decide if you can clear the lip of the sand, simply take the club you intend to hit, lay it on the dry ground with the end of the shaft facing the hole and step on the blade. The shaft will raise up telling you the approximate angle the ball will come out. Figure you may have a club less to work with because you will deloft the club slightly from this at impact.

[Adam Pettman]

carry a 9 wood Fairway bunkers are fun as far as I'm concerned.