A TREATISE ON BUNKERS March’s Tip of the Month

BY RYAN WILLIAMS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL

Few shots separate higher handicaps from scratch players like greenside bunker shots. While watching golf broadcasts on television, the commentators will make statements like, “She will be happy the ball found the bunker rather than the rough.” Many of you may respond rightfully confused. How can someone prefer to be in a place that inspires great anxiety in many golfers?

The truth is, with proper technique, you have a greater margin for error on a greenside bunker shot than any other shot in golf. Without proper technique, you have arguably a smaller margin for error than any shot you might face. So, what is the proper technique? There are 3 parts to my treatise on bunkers. Run through the checklist and see which parts you fit and which you are missing!

Part 1: The 4 Good Words

1. Wide: take a wide stance (at least as wide as you would with a driver)

a. A wide stance provides more stability to allow the club to hit the same spot in the sand easier

2. Open: turn the clubface to where it faces the sky, then take your grip (Never reverse that order)

a. an open face allows the club to glide through the sand rather than dig

3. Full: make a swing closer to full than a normal chip shot

a. This gives the club enough speed to go through the sand

4. Smooth: A bunker shot should be a long rhythmic motion

a. Once you start to trust the club going through the sand, your fast and anxious swings will go away

Part 2: Stay on the Stool

Pretend you’re sitting on the worst stool in the world: it has only one leg that’s cracked at the top and, if you were to move your rear end aggressively, it would break and you would fall. We must remember that greenside bunker shots require the club to hit the sand before the ball.

If you apply the legwork that makes golfers successful on full swing shots, it will result in ball-first contact in a bunker; in other words, the most destructive result possible. Keep the image of “staying on the stool” to get consistent with where the club strikes the sand.

By the way, if the clubface is sufficiently open and you are making a big enough swing, you have about a four-inch window where the club can enter the sand. Name another shot so great a margin for error!

Part 3: Send Sand Where You Want the Ball to Go

The last section of the bunker treatise is the most “feel” oriented and has to do with controlling the distance of the shot. It’s also what I would recommend you focus on while actually playing a bunker shot on the course. Simply imagine that you are sending sand to the flag. Let your athleticism take over the way it would if you were playing catch or shooting hoops.

Flags cut further away from you require less speed and energy than those cut close. Toy around with how much “effort” your expending when hitting bunker shots to improve distance control. On bunker shots longer than 30 yards or so, experiment with using a less-lofted club.

Now, where do you fit within these fundamentals? Maybe you do some parts well but needed the missing piece. Still uncertain? Feel free to schedule a bunker lesson anytime or take part in our seasonal Short Game Clinics!