When to Take Your Medicine in a Bunker, Golf Sand Play (Video) - by Pete Styles
When to Take Your Medicine in a Bunker, Golf Sand Play (Video) - by Pete Styles

I don't think anybody particularly enjoys being in a bunker, but there's sometimes when you're in a bunker, when you really feel like you've pulled a bad break. It might be the fact that you got a very high lip in front of it. It might be a very short green or target area to land on. It might be a down slope which is an incredibly difficult bunker shot, or even a bad lie. And in times like that when you've just really got to consider about just taking your medicine, just getting this ball back out of the bunker and back in play.

So it might be the fact that you don't play over the lip. You don't play to the narrow part of the green. You turn yourself sideways. You hit it to the wider, bigger section of the green and you can put back up. It might actually be that you can't get the ball out of this lie and onto the green at all. It might be that you just have to get it out of the lie back onto another part of the bunker or even back out sideways onto the fairway or fringe and then chip back over. And if it's a very, very difficult situation, you'd never normally get one of these, unless you've got a vertical sided pot bunker or a bunker that's got railway sleepers around it, you might have to take a penalty drop. Penalty drop is probably the worst thing you could ever do in a bunker because not only that it cause you that one shot penalty, but then you actually have to drop it. Now, when you drop it generally, that would give you a plugged lie again, so it's even more difficult.

So it's only when you've really quote yourself in a bad situation, would you take a penalty drop, because of course, you're not allowed to drop it out of the bunker. You have to drop still in the bunker, either in line with the ball and the hole is far back as you like, or then two club lengths where the ball is no nearer the hole. But a penalty drop in a bunker is the worst case scenario. The best thing to do take your medicine, play out safe, take your medicine, play out backwards. You just get the ball back in to play somehow only cost yourself one shot and then try and make a bogey from there or double bogey at worst. But you wouldn't want to do stand in the bunker, gouging out of the bad lie, up for the left, back down to the same point, up to the left, back down to the same point or thinning it straight over the green and air mailing it into another bunker or worst upon the more far side.

So nobody enjoys bunkers, but if you get yourself a bad break, take your medicine, play out. Try and rescue your score from there.

2012-08-06

I don't think anybody particularly enjoys being in a bunker, but there's sometimes when you're in a bunker, when you really feel like you've pulled a bad break. It might be the fact that you got a very high lip in front of it. It might be a very short green or target area to land on. It might be a down slope which is an incredibly difficult bunker shot, or even a bad lie. And in times like that when you've just really got to consider about just taking your medicine, just getting this ball back out of the bunker and back in play.

So it might be the fact that you don't play over the lip. You don't play to the narrow part of the green. You turn yourself sideways. You hit it to the wider, bigger section of the green and you can put back up. It might actually be that you can't get the ball out of this lie and onto the green at all. It might be that you just have to get it out of the lie back onto another part of the bunker or even back out sideways onto the fairway or fringe and then chip back over. And if it's a very, very difficult situation, you'd never normally get one of these, unless you've got a vertical sided pot bunker or a bunker that's got railway sleepers around it, you might have to take a penalty drop. Penalty drop is probably the worst thing you could ever do in a bunker because not only that it cause you that one shot penalty, but then you actually have to drop it. Now, when you drop it generally, that would give you a plugged lie again, so it's even more difficult.

So it's only when you've really quote yourself in a bad situation, would you take a penalty drop, because of course, you're not allowed to drop it out of the bunker. You have to drop still in the bunker, either in line with the ball and the hole is far back as you like, or then two club lengths where the ball is no nearer the hole. But a penalty drop in a bunker is the worst case scenario. The best thing to do take your medicine, play out safe, take your medicine, play out backwards. You just get the ball back in to play somehow only cost yourself one shot and then try and make a bogey from there or double bogey at worst. But you wouldn't want to do stand in the bunker, gouging out of the bad lie, up for the left, back down to the same point, up to the left, back down to the same point or thinning it straight over the green and air mailing it into another bunker or worst upon the more far side.

So nobody enjoys bunkers, but if you get yourself a bad break, take your medicine, play out. Try and rescue your score from there.