You're Correct!

Getting caught out by a fairway bunker is a common occurrence when you are playing out on the golf course. But just because you find your golf ball in a bunker does not mean that you are out of hole or that you cannot make a good low score on that hole.

The key to playing and scoring well from a fairway bunker is to strike the golf ball out of the hazard whilst still achieving length. To do this, you initially need to consider the club to play the shot with. Taking your sand iron, your most lofted golf club, will allow you to hit a high shot that will escape from the bunker, however, it will not necessarily allow you to play a shot of length. You need to consider the trajectory that is required to get the ball from its position in the bunker, out over the lip but at a trajectory to promote shot length. Which club this is will depend on how close to the bunker face you are, the height of the face to be cleared and the lie you have in the sand. The priority is to get the ball out of the bunker, but that does not mean you have to play a short splash shot out as though you are around the green.

Once you have selected the club that will give you the trajectory to hit the ball from the bunker, you now need to set yourself up in a position to encourage a really clean strike between the club head and the golf ball. If the club head strikes the sand before the golf ball, then the club head speed will transfer into the sand rather than the golf ball and the ball will not be hit very far. To achieve a clean, crisp strike, set up as follows. Position your feet on top of the sand but do not wriggle down into it, keep your height.

Position your weight slightly further forward than usual as this will encourage you to make a slightly steeper back swing so that you attack down with the club head and strike the ball first. Hold slightly further down the handle than usual as this will encourage you to pick the ball cleanly off the top of the sand. When you play the shot, work on nipping the golf ball cleanly off the sand and get your back foot up off the sand so that your sole is completely up from it and facing away from the target. Ensuring you finish with your feet in this position will mean that your weight transfers effectively and it will allow you to strike the golf ball cleanly.

If you always play to achieve yardage from a fairway bunker and so you always pick your fairway wood, then you may find that a lot of your shots are hit into the bunker face and you are forced to play an additional shot to escape out of the bunker. Your priority must always be to escape the fairway bunker first and then to gain as much yardage as possible once you have done this.

If you use your sand iron to play from fairway bunkers then you will always get the golf ball out from them, but you will not necessarily achieve a great deal of yardage on the shot. A sand iron shot will fly on a very high trajectory so the ball will travel upwards more than forwards. Consider a lower lofted golf club to gain more yardage.

Bunkers around the green require short high golf shots that give you plenty of control over the golf ball, so that you can get the ball close to the flag. However, fairway bunkers can offer you the opportunity of gaining yardage depending upon the position you find the golf ball in.