Playing out of rock hard bunkers ?

[richart]

With all the rain we have had, a lot of bunkers are just hard compacted sand. Any ideas how to play out of them, especially when you have a high lip to go over.

I know you do not want to play like a conventional bunker shot, as the flange of the club will bounce , and you will hit the ball half way up. Great if it is a fairway bunker, but no so good for a greenside one.

Using a wedge and hitting the sand with the leading edge is fine for chipping out of bunkers with low lips, but what do you do from bunkers like the ones at Woodhall Spa. We have two like that, and they seem unplayable to me.

Any good tips ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Don't go in them :thup:

 

[Twire]

You need a high loft club with low bounce, and try to nip them off the top..... yeah I know, easier said than done.

 

[Foxholer]

Low bounce Lob Wedge.

If sand is (likely to be) dry concrety stuff, shot is pretty much like playing off a 'bare' lie. So ignore the sand and connect the ball cleanly (good luck)

If sand is (likely to be) slightly damp, then playing underneath ball with LW works. Requires significantly more power to have the same effect than from loose sand though.

 

[London mike 61]

Get a wedge , something like a 56 or58 degree with a very low bounce and play it like a normal sand shot only aim to hit the sand only a inch behind the ball. The other and probably better ( course management wise ) is to chip out at the best angle and chip again onto the green, ok, you have added a shot onto your total but it's a case of damage limitation.

 

[richart]

Low bounce Lob Wedge.

If sand is (likely to be) dry concrety stuff, shot is pretty much like playing off a 'bare' lie. So ignore the sand and connect the ball cleanly (good luck)

If sand is (likely to be) slightly damp, then playing underneath ball with LW works. Requires significantly more power to have the same effect than from loose sand though.

I have a 60 degree 04 bounce lob wedge which I will put back in the bag then. Took it out as the course is wet, and didn't need the extra loft to stop the ball quickly.

Thanks for all the replies. Having played for years it is the first time I have come across this problem on a consistent basis for the last few months.

 

[richart]

Don't go in them :thup:

Perhaps you could ask your pro when you have your next chipping lesson ?:thup:

 

[User20205]

Perhaps you could ask your pro when you have your next chipping lesson ?:thup:

unlike homie to offer a flippant reply...he would usually advocate lessons. I may go and visit his pro next time I'm in the Bahamas....I've heard he's emigrated :rofl:

I have the same problem, I find if you thin it hard enough you get a nice soft bounce up off the lip, usually to about 4 feet:thup:

If this high tariff shot is too much take foxy's advice.

(check you out with different clubs for different ground conditions....you've changed )

 

[richart]

(check you out with different clubs for different ground conditions....you've changed )

Not really, just lightening the bag, and it sounded like a good excuse.

I tried the thin one bouncing off the lip. Two inches too high, and I can now reveal I have hit a sandwedge 150 yards.:thup:

 

[G1BB0]

150 is a bit below forum average so your ok

 

[richart]

150 is a bit below forum average so your ok

If it wasn't for me the forum average would be 20 yards longer for every club.

 

[Dave B]

I play the ball off my front foot club face open and hit the ball with a controlled swing as if scooping an egg. Our bunkers are rock hard in winter with a token sand covering over the clay base. Any attempt to hit behind the ball can have disastrous consequences until they put the sand back in the bunkers in the spring.

 

[TXL]

If sand is (likely to be) dry concrety stuff, shot is pretty much like playing off a 'bare' lie. So ignore the sand and connect the ball cleanly (good luck)

This is the route I would take using a low bounce club.

 

[bobmac]

If the bunker lip isn't too high, ball in the middle of your stance, aim 5-10 yds right and close the face on a SW. Then aim to enter the sand 2-3in behind the ball.
N.B. the ball will run when it lands

 

[Foxholer]

unlike homie to offer a flippant reply...he would usually advocate lessons. I may go and visit his pro next time I'm in the Bahamas....I've heard he's emigrated :rofl:

Not quite!

He's got 1 home in UK and another in the Bahamas

As for thinning....I managed to thin a LW 125+ into a (huge) mound of grass clippings. But the best was a mates's 230 yd tee shot with a SW that left him with a full SW back! :rofl:

 

[richart]

As for thinning....I managed to thin a LW 125+ into a (huge) mound of grass clippings.

and you are giving me advice.

 

[richart]

If the bunker lip isn't too high, ball in the middle of your stance, aim 5-10 yds right and close the face on a SW. Then aim to enter the sand 2-3in behind the ball.
N.B. the ball will run when it lands

Thanks Bob, that is one I will bear in mind. It is the high lipped bunkers that are killing me at the moment. Even considered putting out of them, but of course the sand up the face is always softer.

 

[Foxholer]

and you are giving me advice.

:rofl: Do as I say, not as I do!

It was late-ish 90's! About the 15th at either Smiffy's beloved Crowborough or Ashdown Forest! So reasonably 'memorable'!

Mate's effort was on 9th at Brockett Hall Melbourne. Same guy who, in another round, hit 7 Wood 2nd on Par 5 18th across the Lea River, but about 15 ft up a tree behind the green - never to be seen again!