Bennys Bunker Question

[benny]

Hi again guys, needs some advice from some of you strong bunker players.

Now I'm happy with my success rate out of the sand, its not getting out thats a problem for me - its that I only really have one bunker shot.
I do the low skimmer/splash shot. My ball will pop out low over the lip, check on the green and roll on a couple of feet. Its not usually a problem and I'll often give myself a makeable putt but sometimes I'll get caught with a shot that requires a higher flighted bunker shot and I'm not really sure how to play one of these.

Set up for my usual bunker escape is feet and shoulders open, club face laid 3/4 open and a shallow slow swing. My SW is an old Wilson one with the wide sole, plenty of bounce.

How do I get the big high shot from the sand?

 

[evita4]

I had the same issues until recently. I found that when the sand was compacted my usual shallow swing with open face and stance was causing the club to bounce too much. I was actually knifing them with no elevation. My fix has been to play with more weight on the front foot and take a slightly steeper swing. The result was a much more lofted, soft landing escape.
Hope this helps

 

[Page]

weight mainly on front foot, stike down on and through the ball. accelerate through impact. be prepared for the club to not travel far on the swing through as you'll be hitting slightly deeper into the sand. you have to trust the loft of your club.

 

[mick]

i have also had some success getting it higher sitting the ball slighty more forward in my stance,this has never been taught to me by a pro or anything like that so i dont know if it's a proven method,it's just something i done to combat a particulary steep bunker face on the 18th at my club.

 

[benny]

aha! This is all seems to make alot of sense. I'll get into the practise bunker this weekend and see results I get. I'll let you know how your advice panned out - thanks an awful lot gents.

 

[OldWindy]

If I want to get the ball further out of the bunker I (try to) take less sand but this does depend on the lie and how wet the sand is, of course. HTH

 

[Page]

benny,

this is prob a 'no, no' on here but golf world magazine (sssshhh) are giving a dvd away this month. it's a satanta thing but it has a bunker instruction section on it which is quite interesting. it's more with regards to plugged balls (giggle), but the chap addresses high and low shots out of the bunker.

 

[benny]

I love Golf World, i subscribe to it, its my favourite mag by a mile. If people really do take offence to the mention of it on here....they need to take stock. I have that DVD somewhere at home, I'll dig it out and watch it again, forgot there was instruction on it. When I got it I was hoping for lots of good PGA tour highlights but its mostly just a succession of putts from each event! Thanks for the reminder tho.

 

[RGuk]

If you are cranking the face open and coming out low and not that far something's not quite right. The loft alone (56 degrees) should send it up in the air, unless you are off with your ball position. I only open the face more than a tad if I want a high launch to a close pin. I would try and imagine you are hitting a 50-60 yard pitch (with a nearly full swing) over some tall trees, ball forward, weight favouring back foot, slide under the ball....that kind of thing.

Can almost certainly be cured with 50 balls in the sand pit.

 

[Page]

When I got it I was hoping for lots of good PGA tour highlights but its mostly just a succession of putts from each event! Thanks for the reminder tho.

no worries.

the instructional bits (which are at the beginning and end, i think) are very good. as you say, the actaul pga stuff is poor with v little coverage and extremely boring so called 'player interviews'. yawn.

good luck getting your balls out.