Sand... Bucket and Space Please !!!

[kid2]

Is there magic one shot fix for bunker play...
It's easliy the weakest area of my game.

I'm currently working in it but struggling.
If I open the face, aim left, weight forward, try keep the lower body quiet, it's hit and miss with me. Our own course has pretty shallow wide bunkers which are pretty close to greens so more offer than not it's less than 8 mtrs or so to pins. I just struggle to judge distance and release.

Sometimes even leaving the ball in bunkers. It happened me yesterday after a bad approach on a par 4. I'd a relatively straight forward shot from the fairway 125mtrs out into a strong wind. I decided to hit a punched 6 iron as there was no trouble in front. Bunkers left and right of the front 1/3 of the green.
I pushed the approach into the right hand bunker. I was no more than 6 mtrs from the pin and left the ball 2ft outside the bunker with my bunker shot.
Chipped and 2 putted and left like a bear with a DB.
Managed to birdie the next to get one back.

But if I had have parred the hole I took the DB on I would have shot level par.
Silly lapse in shot selection I suppose but I still need to be able to play in the sand.

 

[Slab]

Hope you get your bunker play to where you want it but which shot/s actually cost you the double bogey?

• The pushed approach
• The botched bunker
• The duffed chip
• Or the missed 1st putt

Maybe its just you're fixing one at a time but no point ignoring the other three

 

[bobmac]

How close to the ball are you hitting the sand?

 

[patricks148]

go get a bunker lesson if you a crap from bunkers... simples.



the best bunker player i know has a very steep swing, i was strugging with a few of ours and took this on board and played some good bunker shots lately.

even manged 4 sand saves last weekend against Gullane

 

[Capella]

Don't deccelerate through the ball. That's the one thought that has helped me the most with bunker shots. And the feeling of hitting forward, not up.

That said, I am not very good at judging distances on bunker shots, either. Too much depends on how the sand reacts on any given day. I am normally delighted if I can get it to land and stop somewhere on the green.

 

[kid2]

How close to the ball are you hitting the sand?

About 2" behind it Bob. But with more of a skimming action than a digging action.
I feel like at times I'll blade it.
And the sand in our bunkers you could build houses with.. 😀

 

[kid2]

Hope you get your bunker play to where you want it but which shot/s actually cost you the double bogey?

• The pushed approach
• The botched bunker
• The duffed chip
• Or the missed 1st putt

Maybe its just you're fixing one at a time but no point ignoring the other three

Well to be fair the approach out me in a bunker. Fair enough.
But had I been able to get up and down from it that was irrelative.
The chip was down hill which I intended leaving below the hole a little but I was gave with a 10 footer for a bogie.
Now even pros miss those 2 in 3 times. And I popped it.
So if I'm being picky a decent bunker game and I would have at worst made bogey.

 

[bobmac]

Try going back an inch or 2 and a bit deeper. You can then vary the distance with either hitting it harder, varying where you enter the sand or moving the ball back or forward.

 

[Joff]

My rule is the further behind the ball you strike, the shorter the distance it will go. I'm not sure how true this is though.

 

[Duckster]

Gary Smith and his linear method (again)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xeADahxxrE

Worked for me. Plus, if it's good enough for Tom "Oh my god what the hell is that jumper you are wearing son, please go take it off, burn it and lets never mention it again" Lewis. Then it's good enough for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7ygwhaLP8

 

[kid2]

Try going back an inch or 2 and a bit deeper. You can then vary the distance with either hitting it harder, varying where you enter the sand or moving the ball back or forward.

Cheers pal. 👍
Gonna head to the course tomorrow or Wednesday evening with just my SW and LW and play 18 holes of bunkers.. I should nail it by then.

 

[Foxholer]

Ignoring the 'specialist butterfly grip' - which is a subtlety too far for me - this is a great lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkMt66M-71c

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I think the issue is mixing metres and inches. Stick to one or the other but using both is causing confusion.

Try hitting 5cm behind the ball instead of 2 inches :thup:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

A big fan of the linear method. Has made a big difference to my bunker play and one part of the short game I have no issues with

 

[Canmore]

Simple approach taught to me by a pro - slightly wider than normal stance, club face still square to target, and swing with a consistent tempo, hitting the sand an inch behind the ball

 

[3565]

Ignoring the 'specialist butterfly grip' - which is a subtlety too far for me - this is a great lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkMt66M-71c

this works.

 

[Deleted member 15717]

Linear method for me too. I am sure I don't do it perfectly, however, I don't fear bunkers anymore. I also find I don't need to open the club face right open, which is what I always used to do.
You'll learn to love bunkers eventually!

 

[Tiger]

I think the issue is mixing metres and inches. Stick to one or the other but using both is causing confusion.

Try hitting 5cm behind the ball instead of 2 inches :thup:

:rofl: