Landing in a bunker is punishment for a missed hit. Since just about every course has some bunkers, it’s inevitable you will end up one so make sure you have the skills to get the ball out. If you’ve ever left a ball in the bunker, skulled one across the green or simply didn’t get it as close as you wanted, see if you were skipping any of these three things.
Control the entry point into the sand
You must hit a few inches behind the ball to hit a great bunker shot. This way, the ball carries out of the bunker higher and softer. To control your club’s entry point into the sand and make sure you don’t hit all ball or too much sand, follow these steps:
Open the club’s leading edge to increase loft. Take a wide stance with your body lined up square to the target. Lower your hands a bit while still keeping the clubface open. Lean on the left side (for a right-handed player) Setup with the club about three inches behind the ball and focus on making contact with this spot Maintain a stable (not stationary) lower body, rotate and keep your head over the ball to ensure crisp contact and a descending blow.
To work on your control of this entry point, head to a practice bunker and draw a line in the sand about three inches behind the golf ball. Use the steps above to get into the right position and then focus on making contact with that line.
Use wrist extension – not flexion
To hit great iron shots in golf, you want a little bit of flexion in the lead wrist. This wrist angle helps with compression, consistency and squaring the clubface.
In the bunker, the goal is the opposite. We want the lead wrist to have some extension (or cupping). This helps maintain an open face and effectively use the club’s bounce.
If you are setting up to hit bunker shots with the idea that you want to flex that lead wrist (bowing of the wrist) through impact, you’ll have a hard time ever getting distance control out of the bunker. Instead, feel more like the top of your hand is bending towards your forearm through impact.
