Long bunker shots will be a breeze with this tip from Scottie Scheffler.
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Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you play smarter and better golf.
Bryson DeChambeauThe up-and-down 72nd hole to win this summer’s US Open will go down in history as one of the most clutch sequences ever. Not only were the stakes at their maximum, but the difficulty of the shot was also at its maximum.
Anyone who has faced a long bunker shot knows how tricky it can be. Catch it too thin and the ball goes screaming onto the green. Get too much sand and you won’t even reach the green. When you hit a long shot into the bunker, the margin of error is small.
However, if you make one key change, this picture is much easier than it looks. In fact, all you have to do is make a simple change to make this picture easy. World number 1 Scottie Scheffler explains more below.
How to make a long bunker shot look easy
When you’re hitting a greenside bunker shot, you’ll typically use a sand wedge or wedge to get the ball up in the air and out of the bunker. However, when you have a longer shot into the bunker, you should not use any of these clubs.
From the greenside bunker, you’re trying to get into the sand an inch or two behind the ball to splash the ball onto the green. But as the distance of the shot increases, you need to take less sand to get more power in the shot if you are still using a sand wedge or lob wedge.
As you can imagine, the margin for error becomes extremely thin when you try this technique. You have to execute almost perfectly to get the right amount of sand to precisely control the distance.
Instead of playing for the perfect shot, choose a longer club (think 9-iron or pitching wedge). You’d be surprised how much bigger the margin of error becomes.
“The picture becomes much simpler when you use less loft,” says Scheffler. “When you use lower loft for these longer shots, it becomes much more stable.”
The next time you face a long bunker shot, opt for the lower club instead of the sand wedge. When you do this, you’ll be surprised how much easier shooting becomes.
