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Help (Bunker Play)!!

Just_Hacking

Just_Hacking

"I miss, I miss, I miss, I make"
Albatross 2024 Club
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Oct 21, 2010
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Location
Warner Robins, Georgia, United States
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My bunker play is at an all time low and that is saying a lot. I have never been good at getting out of bunkers, but it has gone from bad to worse to abysmal.

I know that there are a lot of factors that play into the issue, but I have tried about everything I know to fix the problem and nothing seems to work. The picture attached is the main issue I am dealing with right now which is hitting much further behind the ball than I intend to do so. I know a lot of times it can be because of falling back to my right side trying lift the ball out of the sand, but I have really worked on keeping my weight more forward than back. Even at times balancing just on my lead foot and my trail foot in the air, but I still hit way behind the ball. My goal is to hit about two inches behind the ball, but it ends up being 6 inches or more at times. I am at my wits end and appreciate any tips the good people of THPmy have for me.

20220509_181107.jpg
 
What club are you using out of the bunker and where are you playing the ball in your
Stance?
 
Ball off left foot. Wide open stance, get and stay low, I usually hover the club about 2” behind the ball and stare at that spot instead of the ball. You want to take a divot about the size of a dollar bill length wise.
 
Here’s another one from Julian Mellor/youtube. When I practice my bunker shots, I’ll place a tee about 2 inches behind the ball for a better focus point.

 
mmaynard11 said:
What club are you using out of the bunker and where are you playing the ball in your
Stance?
Click to expand...
Either a 56 or 60, ball is positioned more towards the front foot like a long iron would be, but I have moved it around some trying to figure out what I am doing wrong.
 
Also..grip the club with the club face open. Don’t grip the club normal then open it with your hands/wrists.
 

Short and simple seemed to do the trick for me and helped quite a bit.
 
Bounce is your friend. If your 60 degree is low bounce it isn’t a good sand club. I don’t think you need to open the stance I would rather open the clubface with a square stance. I like having the ball just inside the left heel. Open the face and have the bounce of the club enter the sand first. Hit an inch behind the ball (two inches can be too far) and focus on hitting the sand onto the green.

If you do that and focus on getting the bounce of the wedge into the sand first you should be able to get the ball onto the green. Once you are consistent with that you can refine things.
 
This thread pops up at a great time! One of my major goals this year is to get better out of the sand, so thank you for all the responses in here everyone!
 
One thing that helped me is to slow my swing down to where I can really feel the location of the clubhead in the swing. For me, a sand shot is a slow and easy swing, almost lazy.
However, temper that opinion with the realization that all I want to do is get out and on the green. I don't plan on pin-hunting from a bunker.
 
Our course has fluffy sand, and what has helped me for the most part is

Weight forward
Plenty of speed through
I got a wedge with a little more bounce
 
My simple thinking. Face wide open, could put your beer on it. Stance has weight forward, and swing uses more arms than legs which need to keep a stable position. The swing itself that works for me is a cut across the ball, holding the face open after impact. Hitting the right spot behind the ball and getting the pace of the swing down takes some time. I like to draw 2 lines, few inches in front, few inches in back of the ball in a line before ball. Make some swings working toward the ball to get a feel. There is a unique sound when done properly. Poof zip. The result is throwing sand with a ball along for the ride. Hardest part becomes trusting the swing and staying aggressive versus tentative.
 
@Just_Hacking, You described my bunker play precisely! I suffer just like you. I've tried a variety of techniques and some work a couple of times, then poof! There does not seem to be a total consensus on how to play these green side bunker shots. Some say put a lot of weight forward, others not so much. Have the face wide open, others so not so much. Some say open stance, others say more square. Part of my problem is my course does not have a practice bunker and a course nearby that does have them has little to no sand in them, nothing like the bunkers at my home course.
 
The one thing I've learned is that unlike a regular swing, the bunker swing is all arms. Any time I start getting more body turn or leg action into it, it goes south.
 
jdtox said:
Ball off left foot. Wide open stance, get and stay low, I usually hover the club about 2” behind the ball and stare at that spot instead of the ball. You want to take a divot about the size of a dollar bill length wise.
Click to expand...

Golfers Anonymous said:

Short and simple seemed to do the trick for me and helped quite a bit.
Click to expand...


Yes to these!
 
I have the ball slightly forward of center.
Feet aimed well left of the target and dug in a little.
Clubface open and pointed at the target.
If the ball is sitting up, I shallow the swing at the bottom and take the dollar bill of sand swinging along my foot line.
If the ball is down, then the clubface is not as open and the swing is a little steeper and still take the dollar bill of sand out along my foot line.

I have found that confidence in the bunker is very key. Once you have convinced yourself that you will hit a decent shot from the bunkers, the good shots will multiply.
 
Practice, Practice, Practice, and more Practice.

I'm of the opinion that most golfers know what thy need to do to get out of bunkers, but they don't practice this shot enough.

I'm a poor bunker player. I can get out of them usually in one stroke, but where the ball winds up is a guessing game.

So, I play away from bunkers as much as possible. I figure the bunker is going to cost me an extra stroke anyways, so make that extra stroke be from a better lie. A lie I have more control over as far as accuracy.
 
I've given up on hitting the "traditional" bunker shots and just chip them now. Opening the face and trying to hit behind the ball has never worked for me. I'd rather have a long putt than another bunker shot.
 
Here's how it's done....

 
Consider taking penalty strokes. 2019 rule change allows you to drop the ball out the back of the bunker with a 2 shot penalty.
Or, if you were close to the green, take a stroke and distance penalty and try the shot again.
 
TLuke said:
Here’s another one from Julian Mellor/youtube. When I practice my bunker shots, I’ll place a tee about 2 inches behind the ball for a better focus point.

Click to expand...

Wow, tried this yesterday and it worked a treat. Told my wife to try the same thing (normally takes her 2/3 attempts), and she got the ball out first try. This is good advice as I usually struggle in a bunker.
 
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