HOW TO PLAY A GREENSIDE BUNKER SHOT: HIGH-HANDICAPPERS (PIC 1)
Start by placing the ball position just forward of centre in the stance, with the feet pointing just left of target for a right-handed golfer.
We need to open the clubface, by rotating the handle of the club to the right and adding more loft, then take our normal golf grip.
Get your weight over to your lead side at address and keep it there throughout the swing to encourage a downward strike.
The idea is to hit the sand first, around an inch and a half before the golf ball. When you take the club back, you need a very quick wrist hinge to get the clubface pointing back at you.
Acceleration through impact is key, so don’t quit on it. Aim to finish with the clubface once again pointing at you, and you should be able to watch the ball soar majestically onto the green.
Here are the key points to practice.
- Ball position just forward of centre
- Feet pointing left of target (right-handed golfer)
- Open the clubface
- Take normal golf grip
- Weight on lead side throughout swing
- Quick wrist hinge
- Keep acceleration up through impact
HOW TO PLAY A GREENSIDE BUNKER SHOT: MID-TO-LOW HANDICAPPERS (PIC 2)
Mid- to-low handicappers might want to achieve a little more finesse and control from their greenside bunker shots, so I’ve got a slightly adapted set of guidelines for you.
Rather than opening the stance to the target, by pointing your feet left, let’s set up parallel – like you would on a normal shot.
Bend the knees to get nice and low and keep the ball position the same as stated above.
Open the clubface again but this time, keep the hands a little lower towards the sand. The club is going to travel a little more around the body, as you can see me demonstrating in the video above, as this will shallow the angle of attack.
This is the technique used by pretty much every tour pro, ensuring a cleaner contact with the sand and producing those mesmeric shots we can easily recall from the greatest in the game.
It’s recap time – with those changes for lower handicap players in bold…
- Ball position just forward of centre
- Feet parallel to target
- Open the clubface
- Take normal golf grip
- Weight on lead side and bend knees to get lower
- Hands lower towards sand
- Swing more around body
- Keep acceleration up through impact.
Many golfers tend to find bunker shots difficult so my advice would be to make some time and practise practice at least once a week and you will see your confidence grow and get the ball out first time.
