sand!

[turkey]

I know the proper way to play out of the sand but it never works. I have resorted to not opening the club face at all and catching the back of the ball first and then some sand. Today doing this I holed one from a bunker about 30 feet out and left 1 about 3 feet but when I go back to the way the pros do it and the way every golf instructor has told me I don't even get it out most of the time.

so the question is do I need to learn the proper way or stick with my unorthodox method. It also could be the sand in this part of texas you don't even leave foot prints walking to your ball in the bunker it so hard.

 

[xman1112]

Stick with what works! Don't worry about what the pros are doing, we're not pros. As long as you're not doing anything that infringes on the rules, especially grounding your club in the bunker.

 

[Wi-Golfer]

As long as you're not doing anything that infringes on the rules, especially grounding your club in the bunker.

Silly rule.

 

[xman1112]

Silly rule.

Yeah, they don't want you 'testing' the sand to get a feel for what it's like to give you a supposed advantage to get out of there.

Here's an even sillier rule, saw this yesterday (with Feherty) during the final round of the St. Jude; it was about loose impediments and moving them. They showed a small tree branch down, right next to a bunker with a few leaves actually in the sand. The rule is that you can NOT move a loose impediment that is in the same hazard as your ball. That's about the stupidest thing I ever heard!

 

[eclark53520]

Depending on where you are in the bunker and what the bunker looks like(how deep it is, what kind of lip, etc) your method might work, and it might not...

Especially when shortsided in a deep bunker with a lip, you need to be able to get the ball up really fast and let it land soft...which means opening up the clubface...being able to do both shots is the best of both worlds.

I would definitely work on the 'proper' sand shot as well as it does have very real benefits out of very real situations. Ask me how i know this...i was in 3 bunkers on our Wisconsin outing yesterday that my head was well below the green. From what i remember i was short sided on 2 of them and both short sided shots i was within a couple feet of the hole.

I would say that if you are hitting the ball first and getting them close, you are not swinging nearly hard enough or you are hitting too far behind the ball when attempting the 'explosion' shots out of bunkers.

 

[slickpitt]

Depending on where you are in the bunker and what the bunker looks like(how deep it is, what kind of lip, etc) your method might work, and it might not...

Especially when shortsided in a deep bunker with a lip, you need to be able to get the ball up really fast and let it land soft...which means opening up the clubface...being able to do both shots is the best of both worlds.

I would definitely work on the 'proper' sand shot as well as it does have very real benefits out of very real situations. Ask me how i know this...i was in 3 bunkers on our Wisconsin outing yesterday that my head was well below the green. From what i remember i was short sided on 2 of them and both short sided shots i was within a couple feet of the hole.

I would say that if you are hitting the ball first and getting them close, you are not swinging nearly hard enough or you are hitting too far behind the ball when attempting the 'explosion' shots out of bunkers.

Kind of along the line I was thinking. Your method wouldn't really work for me at my home course... most bunkers are anywhere from 3 to 6 foot deep, all have lips etc... Have to be able to get the ball up fast.

 

[eclark53520]

To be completely honest, there is no 'right' way to get out of the bunker as there is no 'right' way to hit any golf shot.

As long as your ball ends up where you want it to be, how it got there is irrelevant.

I have actually used a putter out of the bunker before. Fairly shallow bunker, but the key was there was absolutely no lip, it launched out of the bunker and rolled right up to the cup for a tap in....getting the speed right was complete luck as i have obviously never practiced putting in the bunker before.

 

[WMitch6]

I agree with eclark. There are many ways to get out of a bunker. Too many people think that a sand wedge is the only shot available. The situation determines the shot when playing out of sand.

I will choose a putter every time I can. If there is no lip on the bunker and not a lot of intervening heavy rough the putter is probably the easiest shot. If the ball is sitting up in hard packed sand in a bunker with a lip a chip shot with a short iron might be the best choice.

The bunker shot you are talking about is the "explosion shot". Probably the best choice for most greenside bunkers, but not the shot to choose if you are any distance from the green. If you are not able to get out of a greenside bunker using this shot you are probably not executing it properly.

 

[DaGris]

our home course only has a few sand traps (bunkers).....the sand is only about 3-4 inches deep, so you better not catch allot of sand, or you'll be digging into dirt. You kinda gotta "pick it" clean.

 

[turkey]

yea the problem with the explosion shot it one I think I'm hitting to far behind the ball and two this sand is so hard when I don't pick the ball out clean the sand sticks together and there is no explosion.

if you are in a bunker at my course and for instance hit the sand and it will stay in a little compact sand boulder until it hits the green and it will break into little sand boulders. there is no spray no fine particles at all.

 

[eclark53520]

yea the problem with the explosion shot it one I think I'm hitting to far behind the ball and two this sand is so hard when I don't pick the ball out clean the sand sticks together and there is no explosion.

if you are in a bunker at my course and for instance hit the sand and it will stay in a little compact sand boulder until it hits the green and it will break into little sand boulders. there is no spray no fine particles at all.

....ugh...do they have sand at all or are you just hitting out of dirt? lol

Sounds like those sand bunkers need some work.

 

[WMitch6]

One of the local courses has that kind of sand. I think they get it for 20 cents a ton at a local gravel pit. They put it 2" deep over hard packed clay.

There are actually some upsides to that kind of bunker. You will never get a fried egg lie, the ball will often bounce or roll out of the bunker and picking the ball clean is a lot easier. Try chipping with a short iron. Use an iron that will get you over the lip.

 

[DaGris]

There are actually some upsides to that kind of bunker. You will never get a fried egg lie

Yep.....thats about right

 

[turkey]

agreed it's nice when you hit a 7 iron into a bunker and you see it bounce 5 feet in the air and up on to the green

 

[FATC1TY]

I could build sand castles in our bunkers.. Most of it's pretty fine sand too, and generally a complete pain to get out of it. I get short sided alot.. and I suck at bunker play. I generally smoke one across the green, and then 2 putt it if I'm lucky.