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How to Hit Long
Bunker Shots Close
A few adjustments to your normal sand swing is all it takes

By Brady Riggs
GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher
Published: May 01, 2008


The Situation

Your ball has come to rest in a bunker about 20 yards from the green and about 30 yards from the pin.

What You're Probably Thinking

You're a pretty good greenside bunker player, so you'll use you regular bunker technique but make a longer backswing. The problem is, your regular bunker swing with your sand wedge is good for only about 20 yards, and you end up way short of the hole.

The Better Solution

Keep your trusty bunker cues close, but make the following adjustments when you have more than 20 yards between you and the green. Also, use your 9-iron instead of your sand wedge — it'll help you move the sand faster and farther.


Bob AtkinsExtra Body Make sure to turn through the shot like you would with an iron in the fairway. (The reason you don't dig in with your feet is so you can do this.)

Almost square clubface Set the clubface just slightly open at address and don't try to keep it open through impact like you do with your greenside bunker swing. Make a full swing, including a full release after contact.

Narrow Stance Pull your feet in closer together and just barely dig them into the sand. This will help you produce a shallower divot and get it — and the ball — moving faster toward the target.

Full finish Quit on this swing and you won't reach the green. Keep moving everything — body, arms and club — into a full finish.

Heel down You won't have a solid stance with this shot, so keep your feet grounded as best as you can. Don't try to pivot onto your right toe like you normally do or you'll risk losing your

Try Phil's Fancy Flop

By Dave Pelz
Technical and Short Game Consultant, GOLF Magazine
Published: May 01, 2008



I'm sure you've seen Phil Mickelson hit greenside shots that rise almost straight up, clear a bunker or a tree, and come straight down next to an extremely tight pin.

It's a difficult shot — I call it a "super-cut-lob" — and I don't know anyone who hits it as well as Phil does. But that's not my point. Although you won't need this shot every round, I want you to practice it because 1) On the occasion when you do need it, you'll have at least some chance of pulling it off and, 2) just trying the super-cut-lob makes normal lob shots seem a lot easier.

Find a nice spot on the practice range with plenty of room around in case you catch one thin. You don't need a green to aim at, but if there's something to hit over like a hedge or a small tree, set up in front of it.

(Around our house we hit this shot from the backyard up onto the roof using P3 Practice balls. See pelzgolf.com for details.)

Start by aiming 30 degrees left of your target. Position the ball in the middle of your stance, grip your most-lofted wedge with the clubface 45 degrees open, and swing hard.

Don't worry about where your shots go at first. After each successful attempt, open the face even more and aim farther to the left. Your shots will launch higher and fly shorter, and that's what you want.

Hit a bucket of balls this way. Then hit another, but now aim only half as far left, rotate the clubface only half as far open and swing only half as hard (keeping the ball in the center of your stance).

This is the lob shot you'll need most often in your game, and now it'll seem easy.

How to Cut It From Sand
You're at the bottom of a bunker staring at a high lip. Scary, huh? Not if you've practiced the super-cut-lob.

Use the same swing and setup as above, but play the ball three to four inches forward in your stance.

This allows your clubhead to naturally contact the sand behind the ball — instead of the ball itself — and "blast" it up and onto the green. Just remember, the more you open the face and aim left, the higher your shots will go.

This will help you escape even the deepest bunkers.

Hit Solid Chip ShotsGroove Your Short Game Practice

Your Lie Dictates Your Shot
You can't decide what shot to play until you examine how the ball lies.

By Dave Pelz
Technical and Short-Game Consultant
Published: March 01, 2005


Here's my tip of the month: Always stand behind your ball and look down the target line to evaluate the lie and the shot. Take the photo on the lower left: I see a perfect fairway lie and a beautiful area around the pin for putting. This makes me feel that I should take dead aim for the flag and play for an up-and-down. There seems to be enough room short of the pin to allow me to carry the ball a couple of steps onto the green and stop it near the hole. I also notice a terrace behind the pin, which should act as a backstop if I fly the shot a little too far, especially if there's backspin on the ball. My feel tells me that a 50-yard sand-wedge swing (Image A, below) from this clean lie should produce the perfect trajectory and backspin.


Photos by Leonard Kamsler
Now put my ball two steps back, in the first cut of rough, and what I see tells an entirely different story. With the ball sitting down slightly, I'm sure to catch a little grass between the clubface and ball at impact, which will reduce backspin and prohibit me from stopping a sand wedge near the hole. From this lie, I need to make a 55-yard swing with my L-wedge (B), which should produce a higher, softer-landing shot, even though it will have less spin than I'd like.

If I drop back another two paces, I find the heavy rough. I'm sure to trap lots of grass between the clubface and ball, so I'll make sure my L-wedge grooves are clean and dry (to get all the spin I can), open the face a fraction (to add a little loft), aim slightly left of the pin (to compensate for the open face), and swing for a 60-yard carry (C). This should ensure that I carry the water, even if the ball comes out slower than expected. I need to launch the ball high, because it won't have much backspin and will have to come down almost vertically to have a chance at stopping near the hole.

As similar as these three shots look, each requires a different approach. The lie dictates what you can and cannot do, and a slight mistake can be costly. Read your lies carefully, so you can plan well and execute with confidence.

this article is very useful to me . so i am going to refer this top my friends.
i need more about the golf.
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adamgilcrist
I love Cheap Golf Balls

my bunker play has improved emencly.....i avoid them!!!...deepens on the bunker...some are so hard i end up skulling the ball.The nice fluffy ones I'm good out of....I've used some of those tips in the articles above,,,,they do work.... and for far bunker shots I've always use a 9 or pw.

TommyBahama wrote:my bunker play has improved emencly.....i avoid them!!!...deepens on the bunker...some are so hard i end up skulling the ball.The nice fluffy ones I'm good out of....I've used some of those tips in the articles above,,,,they do work.... and for far bunker shots I've always use a 9 or pw.

Tommy thats what I use a 8 or 9 iron.