ESCAPING DEEP BUNKERS
Exclusive by brett rumford
Golf Australia Contributing Professional

Every bunker shot you are faced with is different so the way you set-up to each trap shot will also be different.

This may mean setting up with a square clubface for longer
bunker shots, or opening the clubface for shorter shots. You may also adjust your stance from a closed position to an open-to-the-target position depending on the length of shot. Consider this as a guide – the longer your bunker shot is, the squarer the clubface and your stance in relation to the target line should be.

The bunker shot most club golfers struggle with is the one from a deep bunker. The root cause of most mistakes with this shot is the player tries to hit the ball high by trying to scoop it out but this will ultimately result in the ball being hit thin into the bunker face.

The technique used to get out of deep bunkers is not
dissimilar to that used to find the green with a pitch from
deep rough.

Set-up to the ball with the clubface of your sand wedge opened between 10 and 15° to its normal square position. Then set your stance aiming left of the target line. To practice this, I suggest you draw some lines in the sand as a guide for your stance – the target line as well as the spot where you want to hit the sand with the club on the downswing (pic 1). As is the case with the high pitch from rough, you need to make a full,accelerating swing to get the ball up and out of the sand.

Again, the club’s shaft needs to move through the vertical,
both on the backswing and follow-through. From there
you just need to adjust your swing speed according to the
length of shot you require.

The length of your golf swing in a bunker is very important. The longer you swing the club (with the suggested open stance and clubface), the higher and softer the ball will fly out (pics 2, 3, 4 & 5).

Swing short and the ball will come out low. If you find your ball is on an uphill and downhill slope in a bunker, you don’t need to change anything except your spine angle in relation to the slope. Your spine angle should always be perpendicular to the slope of the ground. However, you should note the ball will fly out higher from an upslope and lower from a downslope.

From the September 2006 issue of Golf Australia.