How to Make a Good Golf Shot Out of a Fairway Bunker

You have just hit a great drive but it runs into a fairway bunker! You are still a long way from the green so you want to get out and get as far as possible up the fairway. So what is the easiest way to get out and get a long way up the fairway?

The first thing is that you do not want to play the same sort of bunker shot as you would do from a greenside bunker where you need to float the ball up and out to land softly on the green. Take any sand with your shot and the ball will not fly so far. And there is the clue to hitting out of a fairway bunker: you want to hit the ball taking little or no sand with it.

Hit the Ball First!

The primary aim when hitting out of a fairway bunker, apart from getting it out in the first place (!), is to get some good distance on the shot. If you hit the sand, even just one centimetre in front of the ball, you will lose distance. Now it is quite difficult to take no sand at all, so what you need to do is make sure you hit the ball before you hit the sand.

To make sure you hit the ball before the sand, the trick is to play the ball further back in your stance. It could even be as far back as your non-target side foot! You need to experiment a bit to find the position that is right for you.

Select the Right Club

You also need to make an adjustment to the club face angle because you are playing it further back in the stance which means the clubface is actually open at this point in the swing. So you need to close the face slightly to make sure it is square to the line at the point of contact with the ball.

Now, as you have closed the face, you have de-lofted the club - a sand wedge is now playing like a 9 iron for instance. So make sure you are still taking a club with enough lot to clear the face of the bunker.

In summary

1. Hit the ball before the sand by playing it further back in your stance

2. Close the clubface to square it to the target line

3. Select a club with enough loft to still clear the bunker face when it has been de-lofted by closing the face.

Try this method next time you find yourself in a fairway bunker and you may be surprised how easy it is to get out and well up the fairway.

by mark pearson