You're Correct!

If you have hit your golf ball into a fairway bunker, this does not mean that you cannot score well on that hole. You need to recover your position and get back on to the grass but this does not mean that you cannot achieve distance from this situation. The priority from any bunker is to escape it with your first attempt.

There is no benefit to be gained from hitting the ball into the bunker face and then having to try again to get the golf ball out. But if you have a good lie on the top of the sand and are far enough back from the face, you may be able to play a shot that escapes the sand and still delivers the length you need to hit the green or get close.

Playing a hybrid from a fairway bunker is a great option for several reasons. Initially, a hybrid has a larger club head than an iron does. This means that the weight within the club head can be moved further away from the club face and the centre of gravity of the club head also moves further away. This makes it much easier to get the golf ball into the air and flying on a high trajectory which is a distinct advantage if you need to hit the golf ball up and over the bunker face.

The second reason why a hybrid is a great option to play from a fairway bunker is that the larger club head means that the head also has a larger sole as well. This larger sole is designed to glide over the surface and clip the ball off it, producing a cleaner, crisper strike on the golf ball. The speed of the club head is then transferred into the golf ball and a long golf shot is produced. A long iron has a much narrower sole that cuts into the surface rather than glides over it. If this club head strikes the ground before the ball, rather than gliding over it strike the golf ball, it digs into the surface and the speed of the club head is transferred into the ground rather than the ball. As a result of this, the shot will be mis-hit and will not fly high or very far.

If you hit your ball into a fairway bunker, you have a reasonable lie and are far enough back from the face to hit a hybrid out, then it is a great shot to play and to still be able to achieve yardage from.

If you play your sand iron from a fairway bunker, then you will definitely get the ball out of the trap. With the high loft of your sand iron, you will achieve a high trajectory golf shot, but a high shot will not necessarily achieve the yardage that is required. Play the club that allows you to both escape from the bunker and achieve the yardage that you need.

Hybrids are very easy golf clubs to use and hit the golf ball into the air. The weight in a hybrid club head is positioned further away from the club face and this means that you can achieve a high trajectory with the golf club. Just remember to play a shot that will go over the bunker face and not into it.

Any golf club, including a hybrid, can be played from the sand. But the larger sole of the hybrid glides the club head over the surface that the shot is being played from allowing you to clip the ball cleanly off it. As you want to achieve a clean strike to achieve yardage from a fairway bunker and you do not want the club head to dig into the sand, a hybrid is a great choice.