Stuck in the Sand? Try These 5 Bunker Shot Tips

So you just crushed your brand new R1 driver 287 yards down the fairway and you’re flexing your muscles as you walk back to your cart.  You knock your 2^nd shot short into deep bunker just off the front right side of the green. Immediately you begin thinking about your perfect drive wasted, your birdie potentially becoming a bogey…and then suddenly, your focus dissolves.

Any golfer will agree that the bunker shot is the most intimidating and frustrating shot in the game – but it doesn’t have to be.

Here are some tips to help you with your bunker shots.  Go to the driving range and use an entire bucket of balls in the sand and use the following tips to help you get off the beach in one attempt.

1. When in a bunker just off the green, or within a close distance to the green, make sure you use your wedges (sand or lob) – preferably one with a high bounce.  A lower bounce wedge tends to dig the sand too much, forcing you to not lift the ball.
2. Make sure your standing closer to the ball then normal and keep the ball in the middle of your stance with weight on the front foot. Right handed golfers should aim to the left of the target
3. Open your clubface so the face is pointed straight up.
4. A bunker shot swing arc should reflect a “V” and not a typical letter “U” from a normal golf shot. You are swinging down on the ball with no weight shift during the backswing.
5. Make sure to hit the sand 2-3 inches behind the ball and accelerate through the sand as the club will glide under the dirt and make sure your swing is complete with a high follow through.

Now get up to the green, sink that birdie putt, and continue on with your round!

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