Really difficult bunker shot yesterday.... help!!!!

[slugger]

Playing in the medal yesterday, 9th hole, really long par 4. I hit a good drive then a lovely 3 wood of the deck but ended up in one of the bunkers just short right of the green.

My ball had just rolled in and no more, so i was left with a downhill lie which meant my stance was with the back foot a good few inches above the front foot. I buried my feet into the sand as much as possible and tried to get a steep swing path into the ball.... but, all i managed to do was thin it out, over the green and into some trees. Managed to chip out and 2 put for double bogey

Could have been a really good hole, but turned into a wrecker!

How should i play this shot?

 

[brendy]

Part of course management is knowing when to bail out matey. Coming out sideways can sometimes actually save you shots. Using your own strengths and weaknesses, imagine you were practicing this situation, what one shot would you pull off well most times?
It's having the level head to decide this is what makes the difference between a good mental approach and gung-ho which rarely wins anything from an amateur point of view.

 

[freddielong]

I agree, sometimes there is no shot to the pin, play it sideways or backwards give yourself a chance at the bogey

 

[slugger]

I'll take your comments on board for next time it happens... it's sooo bloody hard not to go for the direct route to the pin though, and not always obvious... all i could think of was "how am i going to get this nearer the hole?", not "how am i going to get this back into play...

probably a big part of my game i need to work on - having the sense to take the medicine.

 

[brendy]

Sometimes the safe option can still cost shots but more often less than what could have been a disaster.
I just remind myself of the time I went balls out at a par three trying to recover over a bush that I was just too close to and ended with an 8, it was our 17th hole and I was on for a cracking score and ended up around level handcap and was disgusted with myself for days after, it still bothers me why I didnt just chip round it and chance the long putt rather than try to get it onto the top tier where the flag was located. As the saying goes, you live and learn.

 

[JustOne]

Best bunkershot I ever played was as you describe. Playing in a medal, the ball had just ran into a bunker that also had a 6" back lip. I had exactly 10cm of backswing but had to pick the club up to get it over the back lip too. So I didn't make a backswing at all, I made an UP swing and smashed straight back down into the sand behind the ball as hard as I physically could, just like hitting a tent peg with a sledgehammer... I knew I'd holed it as it landed right by the flag and trickled to the hole..... and stopped on the edge. Bugger.

Murphthemogs bunker shot (well his second one) might be the best one I've ever actually witnessed played. He'll tell you about it if you ask

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I don't think many of us if we're being truely honest would have thought about the sideways shot. Its easy to get caught up in a medal with your score and thinking about getting on the green, two putting and moving on. It takes a lot of self belief and discipline to decide that a backwards step is actually a positive move

 

[bobmac]

How should i play this shot?

Firstly, I'd say dont attempt it unless you have practiced it.
To play this shot, you need to lean your body at right angles to the slope so in this case leaning your upper body towards the green. Open the clubface and aim left, then try and swing with the angle of the slope. Dont try and pick it off the top of the sand as you will possibly thin it.
Commit to the shot with a full swing and lots of sand.
As you will discover, its a very hard shot and there's no shame in playing out backwards or sideways

 

[19th]

Another way of 'attacking' this is to take lots of sand.

If you get out you have a putt, if you stay in the bunker, you are nearer the flag, you can then come out out and putt, which is the same as playing sideways and then chipping onto the green and putting.

What you must not do, YOU DID!!

And I would agree, easy on here, more difficult on the course with the blood pressure raised.