As a golfer, you have a few maintenance responsibilities which fall on your shoulders during the course of a round. For instance, you should repair your ball marks on the greens, and you should either fill in your divots with sand, or replace the divot (depending on course policy). Another one of your jobs while on the course is to rake the bunker after you have finished playing your shot. Unfortunately, some golfers don’t quite understand how to do this job correctly, which leaves less-than-ideal playing conditions for those coming later.

When you are done playing your shot, you should grab a nearby rake. While you are cleaning up the part of the bunker you have used, make sure to pull most of the sand back down toward the bottom of the bunker. Many players get into the habit of pulling the sand up toward the edges, which quickly leaves the bottom of the trap hard and unplayable. Also, be sure to use the rake on your way out of the trap to clean up your footprints. Yes, this is a little bit of work, but you should always take care of this task so that other golfers can play from a nice lie in the sand, just as you were able to do.

If you currently have a fear of bunker shots, it is likely that the cure can be found in plenty of practice. By working on your technique, you will get more and more comfortable with the job of hitting out of the sand. In time, you might even be able to shift this part of the game from a weakness into a strength. We hope that the tips provided throughout this article have given you more than enough ideas to get out and build up your own bunker game. Believe it or not, playing shots from the sand can be quite fun, once you know what you are doing. Good luck!