The Golf Slice

I talk a lot about bunker shots here on this blog and today will be no exception. There are times when you’ll want to make a chip shot out of the sand. Take these things into consideration before attempting your shot.

The first thing you should worry about is the lie of your golf ball. If you can’t get the head of your club to make clean contact with the ball then you might want to reconsider trying a chip shot.

After you’ve decided the lie is right check the lip of the bunker. If the lip is too high the ball probably won’t be able to clear it. A lower lip equals a higher probability of success with a chip shot out of the bunker.

Last, but not least, is to figure out the distance between the bunker and the flag. You’ll need plenty of space between your ball and the pin because any ball chipped out of the sand is going to come out flat and without spin. That’s the perfect recipe for a golf ball that rolls right passed the hole and keeps on going.

Nine times out of ten when you’re stuck hitting out of a bunker you’re looking to hit the ball just high enough to get it over the lip of the pit and on to the green. In other words, it’s less about the distance and more about the air.

If you don’t have a sand wedge in your golf bag you should use the next shortest club with the most loft available.

The best way to hit a good bunker shot is to be aware of what your clubface is doing. When you’re using a like your sand wedge it’s important to keep the face lofted so that it brushes across the sand and sends the golf ball upward.

Be careful not to do anything during your swing that will ruin the loft of the ball. It’s really easy to try and “help” the ball get into the air by moving your wrists or changing your angle. Trying moves like that will lead directly a bad shot.

The sand in bunkers never seems to be the same. At some courses it’s nice and soft and at others it’s like gravel. The courses I frequent have bunker sand that they apparently ship in from rock quarries or something. The stuff is awful.

If you’re going to follow the letter of the law you can’t test the texture of the sand in the bunker before taking your shot. My circle of golfing friends isn’t quite that hardcore when it comes to our bunker shots so we like to give the ground a little tap with our club head first.

If the sand is especially hard in the bunker you’ll probably want to slow down your swing. Try not pulling back so far in your swing because the ball is going to come out much quicker without soft sand to cushion the impact. Soft sands requires you to take a faster swing. The light sand creates more resistance to the head of your club.