Look Beyond Sand Wedge on Long Bunker Shots, Golf (Video) - Lesson 3 by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Look Beyond Sand Wedge on Long Bunker Shots, Golf (Video) - Lesson 3 by PGA Pro Pete Styles

If you find yourself in a position where you're facing a relatively long bunker shot - we're talking to the 30-40 yard bunker shot - might still be a green side bunker if you're back in the bunker and the flag's back on the green, there might be a 30-40 yard bunker shot. It's generally considered the one of the hardest shots in golf, you often hear this on the TV, "he's always got the hardest shot", "he's a long way from the flag and he's in the green side trap".

There is an option over and above just using your sand wedge. Most green side bunkers, people just naturally, instinctively reach for the sand wedge, walk in and try and flop the ball out. Because the sand wedge has an awful lot of loft and an awful lot of bounce, it isn't designed to hit the golf ball a long way. It's more designed just to clear the lip and get the ball on the green, with a little bit of spin.

But if you actually want to clear a lower lip, and get the ball rolling up the green towards the flag, it might be worth considering a different club. Maybe taking a gap wedge, pitching wedge, 9 or even 8-iron, play the ball in a similar fashion to your bunker shot and splash the ball out with a bit of sand. But the ball would come out lower with a bit less spin and release.

It might be worth taking a little bit of an experimentation to this, practicing a little bit with different clubs of different lies and see on how the ball reacts. Because you might be surprised how quickly the ball can come after release of the green. Actually playing a 9 or 8-iron out of a bunker, you could land the ball in the same position as your sand wedge would land, your sand wedge would stop and spin, your 8-iron would land and then keep scuttling up the green to the back of the flag. So just have a little experimentation with that.

And just also feel how the different sand conditions, you could utilize different clubs there as well. On very hard packed sand, a sand wedge is quite difficult to use because it's got so much bounce, 12 or 14 degrees of bounce, it's going to be tough to get underneath the ball on hard packed sand. But if you could play something like your gap wedge or your pitching wedge on the hard packed sand, generally the bounce angle on the wedge would be better, as it's less bounce angle, it wouldn't bounce so much off the surface.

As long as you've got about an inch behind the golf ball, you could play a pitch wedge or a gap wedge. From a bare lie in a bunker to a long flag position, you could play that quite nicely.

So don't instinctively reach for your sand wedge when you get to a green side bunker. Consider the sand conditions, consider the length of the shot, and work out which club is going to play that shot the best for you.

2012-08-10

If you find yourself in a position where you're facing a relatively long bunker shot – we're talking to the 30-40 yard bunker shot – might still be a green side bunker if you're back in the bunker and the flag's back on the green, there might be a 30-40 yard bunker shot. It's generally considered the one of the hardest shots in golf, you often hear this on the TV, “he's always got the hardest shot”, “he's a long way from the flag and he's in the green side trap”.

There is an option over and above just using your sand wedge. Most green side bunkers, people just naturally, instinctively reach for the sand wedge, walk in and try and flop the ball out. Because the sand wedge has an awful lot of loft and an awful lot of bounce, it isn't designed to hit the golf ball a long way. It's more designed just to clear the lip and get the ball on the green, with a little bit of spin.

But if you actually want to clear a lower lip, and get the ball rolling up the green towards the flag, it might be worth considering a different club. Maybe taking a gap wedge, pitching wedge, 9 or even 8-iron, play the ball in a similar fashion to your bunker shot and splash the ball out with a bit of sand. But the ball would come out lower with a bit less spin and release.

It might be worth taking a little bit of an experimentation to this, practicing a little bit with different clubs of different lies and see on how the ball reacts. Because you might be surprised how quickly the ball can come after release of the green. Actually playing a 9 or 8-iron out of a bunker, you could land the ball in the same position as your sand wedge would land, your sand wedge would stop and spin, your 8-iron would land and then keep scuttling up the green to the back of the flag. So just have a little experimentation with that.

And just also feel how the different sand conditions, you could utilize different clubs there as well. On very hard packed sand, a sand wedge is quite difficult to use because it's got so much bounce, 12 or 14 degrees of bounce, it's going to be tough to get underneath the ball on hard packed sand. But if you could play something like your gap wedge or your pitching wedge on the hard packed sand, generally the bounce angle on the wedge would be better, as it's less bounce angle, it wouldn't bounce so much off the surface.

As long as you've got about an inch behind the golf ball, you could play a pitch wedge or a gap wedge. From a bare lie in a bunker to a long flag position, you could play that quite nicely.

So don't instinctively reach for your sand wedge when you get to a green side bunker. Consider the sand conditions, consider the length of the shot, and work out which club is going to play that shot the best for you.