How to Make a Great Bunker Shot from Wet Sand

With some practice, playing a standard explosion shot from a greenside bunker is a pretty easy task.

By opening the face of your wedge, making a big swing, and aiming for a spot a couple inches behind the ball, you can blast the ball out of the sand and onto the green. It might look tricky but many new golfers are surprised to learn that greenside bunker shots are one of the easier parts of the game, at least in good conditions.

The story changes dramatically when the conditions do not fall into the ‘good’ category.

If you find yourself in a bunker with nasty sand conditions for one reason or another, a relatively easy shot can turn difficult – or impossible – in a hurry. This is especially true when we find that our usual soft, fluffy bunker has been packed down from a recent rain.

So if that’s the case, what do you do next? Let’s dive in a bit and find out.

The Problem with Wet Sand

Your feelings on wet sand are going to be greatly influenced by where you find yourself on the golf course. If you are in a fairway bunker, finding wet sand is actually going to be a huge relief.

A hard-packed bunker back in the fairway will make your job easier, as hitting a full shot from this spot isn’t much different than hitting from the grass. However, if that wet sand happens to be in a bunker by the green, you’ll have a whole other kind of challenge on your hands.

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As you should already know, playing an explosion shot from a bunker means sending your wedge down deep into the sand, safely under the ball. A large patch of sand is blasted out of the trap, along with the ball, which hopefully lands safely on the green. This is the go-to option when you are in a greenside bunker, and it works beautifully when the sand is soft.

When the sand is hard, however, it doesn’t really work at all. The club isn’t going to dive in the same way it does when the sand is soft, meaning the explosion shot really isn’t an option.

If you try it, the most likely outcome is that the club will bounce off the top of the sand, and the leading edge will hit the middle of the ball. The end result is a shot that comes out low and extremely fast. This shot probably isn’t going to get out of the bunker, and if it does, it is going to likely fly over the green and into trouble on the other side.

So, the first thing you need to do when you find yourself in wet sand in a greenside bunker is eliminate the explosion shot as an option.

You are going to have to find another way out of the trap, as attempting an explosion shot in this situation is just going to do more harm than good.

Making Your Pitch

The key to dealing with wet sand correctly is to think pitch rather than blast. In other words, you are going to use your pitching technique – the same technique that you would use from outside the bunker – to hit the shot. It’s still going to be a difficult shot, but you will at least have a fair chance of success this way.

You probably know already how to play a pitch shot, but the following points should serve as a handy reminder.

#1 Hinge Your Wrists

A large percentage of the power you produce with a pitch shot is going to come from the hinging and unhinging of your wrists. As soon as the club moves back away from the ball, hinge the right wrist back on itself to set the angle. Then, as you swing through, unhinge your wrist to propel the club head into the back of the ball.

#2 Keep Your Head Still

You are going to need to make solid contact in order to pull this shot off successfully. And, to make solid contact, you’ll need to keep your head as stable as possible.

With a steady head position and your eyes focused on the ball, making clean contact is an achievable goal.

#3 Play the Ball in the Middle of your Stance

If the ball is too far forward in your stance, you will likely hit the sand before the ball – which is not what you want to do, at least in this case. If you play the ball too far back, the swing will be steep, and you may stick the club too far down into the sand. Do your best to center the ball in your stance for optimal results.

Maintenance workers pump water from a bunker on the 18th hole during…

Maintenance workers pump water from a bunker on the 18th hole during a rain delay at the first round of the 2005 International golf tournament at Castle Pines Country Club in Castle Pines, Colorado. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

To put it simply, you are going to try to hit the ball cleanly instead of blasting a big patch of sand out of the bunker. This is going to come with its challenges, of course, since there is almost no margin for error on this shot.

If you miss solid contact, even slightly, the ball might not get out of the bunker at all. And, if the lip of the bunker is high, even a well-struck shot may struggle to get up in the air quickly enough to escape.

With all of that said, playing a pitch shot from wet sand is your best bet.

It should go without saying that you will want to practice this shot sufficiently before you try it on the course. If you find yourself at the driving range and you see that they have a practice bunker available, work on this pitch-style shot. Even just a few repetitions from time to time should help you feel more comfortable when this shot comes up on the course.

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