Bunkers

Lord Tyrion

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Indeed, I had been using the shallow divot technique, but in a wet bunker of compact sand, the only thing that happens is the club bounces off the sand and you end up knifing the ball across the green at worst, or smack into the lip at best.

Ah, for the compact sand bunker you need to have had 20yrs of playing hockey as that gives you the eye to nip the ball off the surface with a delicate touch :D. The rest of my game may be a pile of spam but I can do that shot over and over.
 

Curls

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OP - ignore a lot of what you see on Youtube and the like - the salient point from the discussion above is that a lot of it refers to fluffy sand.

Listen to Bob.

Bob is wise.
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Easiest shot in golf, don’t have to hit the ball.

Ball off front foot and hit sand first.

Simple indeed - but your outcome will depend upon what hides beneath the top 10mm of nicely raked sand.

Our new re-built bunkers will all have china clay sand - and my initial experience of it is that it plays just beautifully - square to line - 2" behind ball - and just accelerate into the strike. Ping - out it comes - and with backspin.

Going for a few holes this evening and if there is no-one about when I get to our 6th (with it's new greenside bunker) I might just chuck a couple of balls in and have a wee practice...
 
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jim8flog

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If your bunkers are in the condition that the weather this winter suggests first thing is ditch the SW if it is high bounce. High bounce is for bunkers that are soft deep and fluffy. I carry two SWs in winter one low bounce and one high bounce.
 

Maninblack4612

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Stan Utley's method in "The Art of the Short Game" works for me. Wide square stance & clubface with knees really bent & hands really low. Lean a bit towards the hole & swing, aiming for the ball. The club, because the swingpath is so shallow, just glides under the ball & all you have to do is remember how hard to hit it.
 

mashleyR7

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bloke I played a medal with Sunday took ten shots in a bunker on our 4th hole. I was on the green putting from 3 feet for par waiting for him. I just wanted to say, go out backwards or wide ways but bit my lip!
 

bobmac

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Stan Utley's method in "The Art of the Short Game" works for me. Wide square stance & clubface with knees really bent & hands really low. Lean a bit towards the hole & swing, aiming for the ball. The club, because the swingpath is so shallow, just glides under the ball & all you have to do is remember how hard to hit it.

So different from the likes of Nicklaus, Watson, Faldo, Woods, Mcllroy, Speith etc etc etc
 

patricks148

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TBH i would get a lesson from your course pro, he should be able to equip you best to deal with the bunkers at your course.

Not much use looking at Youtube getting out of comp diff type of Bunkers and maybe you making things worse.
 

Marshy77

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I'm no expert at all but I did have a bunker lesson a couple of years ago and do tend to get out pretty well the majority of the time. The points that I took away from the lesson and seem to work are:

weight more on leg nearest the hole - maybe 70-30
feet dug down in the sand
like someone else said really open face
grip after setting the face
normal swing and aim to hit a ball behind the ball

Had a bunker shot on Monday where the ball was plugged and very close to the lip, didn't have a clue what to do. My mate told me to completely close the face and swing hard through the ball and it would pop out - it did!! Was amazed that I got it out.
 

bobmac

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Had a bunker shot on Monday where the ball was plugged and very close to the lip, didn't have a clue what to do. My mate told me to completely close the face and swing hard through the ball and it would pop out - it did!! Was amazed that I got it out.

Be careful with that one as the ball will roll a long way when it lands
 

garyinderry

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Rule 1 for me - don't fall back trying to help the ball out. leads to airmailing the green and awful inconsistent shots.


Solving that issue was huge for me.
 

Shooter McPowick

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Aim feet left of target
shuffle feet into sand to get a feel for how deep it is
using high lift wedge open face
ball roughly middle of stance
look at the sand an inch behind the ball
commit to the shot, any hesitation will be a duff
swing through the ball into a full swing finish
 

the_coach

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couple of things that maybes will help op

need a firm base in the bunker need to keep good balance
- so stance width is more the width of a 7i as opposed to a stance the narrower stance of a 30 - 40 yard pitch
- plus the feet are established just nicely 'in' the sand as opposed to on - as you looking to enter sand a tad behind the ball & take out a pocket of sand
- so the mental image is of club under the ball

by the same logic don't really want to choke down too far on the handle - having hands in middle of handle equal grip top & bottom is a good place for control of the swing - if you really choke down on the handle folks often times find gettin 'into & under the sand' more than a tad difficult so get too much ball - thins etc

& what's also key to go with the above - the set-up has gotta have some "knee bend" & it's crucial that bend/flex has to be 'kept' through the stroke - if you 'post' the lead leg & extend up in the shot as you'd do in any normal type shot & you're in big trouble

so with the above in mind aim the leading edge at the chosen landing area - then just 'open up' the wider stance 'a tad' not forgettin the knee bend - ball position between opposite the lead heel to just forwards of center depending on height of shot looking to obtain
focus on a spot 3" behind the ball not the ball (to that practice by drawing a line in the sand & swing 'hitting' that line (no ball) as having control over where you can enter the sand is also a key)

& the follow through has to be at least as long as the takeback for 'normal type' bunker shots don't quit after impact so gotta 'turn the chest thru" (meaning buried lies a tad different as sometimes that will have to be more of a hit & stick
 
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