As easy as it looks to the pros, bunker shots are not easy. When a fun player hits the sand, most are begging to just get it OUTSIDE in a single stroke. There’s a reason sand is considered a hazard.
Sand shooting requires a special technique and most weekend warriors don’t know how to execute it. That’s why you’ll see so many of your partners playing two (or three or four) shots to escape the bunker. When they get into the sand, they have I don’t know what they should do to get it out.
This applies to shots into the green bunker AND fairway bunker shots. Even worse, many don’t realize that these techniques differ depending on whether the bunker is next to the green or bordering the fairway.
IN GOLF Top 100 Teachers At the summit a few years ago, instructor Kellie Stenzel broke down the key differences between these shots—and explained how to execute each.
Fairway and Green Bunker Techniques
When hitting fairway bunker shots and greenside bunker shots, the biggest difference is how far you want the ball to travel. From the fairway bunkers, you want the ball to travel much farther than you do from the green bunkers. So how do you change the distance? It’s all about where your clubhead hits the sand.
When you’re hitting from a fairway bunker, you want the clubhead to make contact with the ball and then sand, while in a bunker on the edge of the green, you want the clubhead to come in BEHIND the ball in the sand that will splash the ball out. And the easiest way to make this change is by changing your configuration.
Greenside Bunker
From a green bunker, you want the ball position to be at the front of your stance. If you need a reference, try thinking about where the ball would be when lining up to hit a driver.
“What would happen there is when I take my natural golf swing, the club will go into the sand before the ball,” Stenzel says. “I’ll also dig my feet into the sand. What it does is it lowers the arc of the swing and allows you to get enough sand so the club never contacts the golf ball.”
Fairway Bunker
With a fairway bunker shot, you’re going to make a setup that’s similar to what you would with any other stock shot.
“I want to hit it just like a normal golf swing,” Stenzel says. “I want to get the ball right in the middle of my body. Then you want to get your trail foot into the sand with your weight on the inside of your foot. This will help your weight stay forward so you’re sure to make solid contact, ball first.”
