Best Way to Hit Awkward Bunker Shots in Golf

Unfortunately we don’t always get a perfect lie in a bunker. But learn your basic technique from a good lie and this will give you confidence.

A buried ball - This is not a difficult shot. Most club golfers over-hit with short bunker shots. You certainly won’t over-hit with this one! Set up to the ball with a wide stance and a square or slightly closed clubface. Leave a 2.5cm (l in) gap between the club and the ball. Look at the sand just behind the ball and beat down and forwards into it as hard as you can. It requires brute force to get this shot out. Followthrough as well as you can and don’t look up.

A ball in a footprint is much harder to play. If you mis-hit this it can travel much too fat. Address the ball with a square clubface and your normal 5cm (2in) gap between club and ball. The trick is to get the tight shoulder as high as possible bending your left arm and stretching your right side. This allows the backswing to be an up-and-down action with maximum chance of getting into the sand at the right place. Treat the shot with caution, make the swing slow and steady and focus on hitting the sand and ball forwards.

The ball under the face of the bunker - The upslope acts as a launch pad to help your ball up and out. The key is to take your stance without grounding your club and to get your feet in the correct position first time. Stand far enough away from the ball and completely upright. Make sure you get a firm footing on your right foot to hoist yourself up. Don’t let the left knee and leg get in the way of your swing. Use a square clubface. The upslope is going to give you plenty of height. Look beneath and behind the ball and swing backwards and forwards into the sand. Don’t expect to follow through. Just chop into it and the ball should pop up. Keep your head and eyes perfectly still. Don’t look at your shot, or you will get a face full of sand. You will always see ‘pros’ plaving this shot and then turning away from it. The sand should go down your collar and nor in your eyes!

If your ball is in the bunker and you have to stand outside it, use a very wide stance and knock your knees inwards so you can get a clear swing at the ball. Keep the ball towards the toe of the club, look at the sand behind the ball and try to play your ordinary bunker shot.

Frozen or compacted sand – Use a square clubface. Treat the shot like a tiny pitch from grass. Use your sand wedge, a putting grip, look at the ball itself and make a very small, slow swing making a contact with the sand at the very spot on which it sits. Keep your grip firm and keep the action tight and slow.

To putt from a bunker - If the sand is smooth in front of you and there is no lip, a putt can be the easiest shot. Look at the ball itself and not the sand and concentrate on hitting it as cleanly as possible from the top of the sand without making contact with it. Watch the ball well. As with many of the shots described above, imagine a nail or drawing pin in the back of the ball and make a perfectly horizontal strike.