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fairway bunker, Good lie, are you approaching or just getting out and up a bit.

rollin

rollin

"Just playin golf pally"
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of course a bad lie , buried, on the wall, bad stance, etc....we are dpoing what we need to do.
One of my county courses has more fw bunkers than you can count. most of which sit at the doglegs and all but one par 4 is a dogleg. So its common to be in fw bunkers often enough. And a good percentage of the time you can have a nice lie.

For me? good lie Im most always looking for the approach shot or at least getting it close enough near the apron for an up/down attempt. Of course doesn't always work...lol but I can certainly send a fair amount of approach shots near enough and just occasionally on the green from the good lie in the fw bunker. I suppose one the good things (if there is one ) is that you can get decently good at some things by default of failing at tee shots enough...lol same with recoveries from tree lines etc.

So, you got a good lie in a fw bunker within reasonable approach distance? whats your normal choice of play from there?
 
I am taking dead aim at the green. Does it always go as planned? Of course not...
 
I'm approaching the green 99% of the time in this scenario. Sure sometimes I'll chunk it or blade it, but for the most part I can get out and near the green pretty steadily.
I take one extra club, choke up an inch, and swing shallower with no shaft lean. No idea if that's recommended or not, but it really works well for me.
 
If I have a good lie and I'm not against the lip of the bunker, I'm going to go for the green or the best shot that I can make from there. Why is this a question?
 
brianmk24 said:
If I have a good lie and I'm not against the lip of the bunker, I'm going to go for the green or the best shot that I can make from there. Why is this a question?
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why couldn't it be a good question to ask? Many people can suffer in bunkers even with good lies and good stances. It can be similar to asking about most any recovery shot. Imo its a good question worthy of discussion. No?
 
I grew up on a course that had 115 bunkers and got comfortable hitting from them as a teenager. They don’t pose a problem for me unless there is a lip to deal with. Today I had a large lip about seven feet in front of me from a fairway bunker 178 yards out. I hit 8 iron 20 yards short of the green a chipped to 6 feet and missed the putt.
 
rollin said:
why couldn't it be a good question to ask? Many people can suffer in bunkers even with good lies and good stances. It can be similar to asking about most any recovery shot. Imo its a good question worthy of discussion. No?
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If somebody suffers in a bunker, it doesn't matter if they try for the green or pitch out sideways...the result is probably going to be similar.

I suck in bunkers from time to time too, but if you're positing a good lie and no interference (which is similar to a fairway lie or something reasonable in the rough), I don't see the point in the question. It's not about "can you hit it through this 100 sq ft window in the trees?" like Phil might do.
 
I approach if I'm inside of a 7 iron. With my new F9 OL that may expand to a 5 or 6 if the situation is right. A lot of the fw bunkers on my local courses are firm and often I'm better at picking it clean than a blast from green side.
 
tahoebum said:
I grew up on a course that had 115 bunkers and got comfortable hitting from them as a teenager. They don’t pose a problem for me unless there is a lip to deal with. Today I had a large lip about seven feet in front of me from a fairway bunker 178 yards out. I hit 8 iron 20 yards short of the green a chipped to 6 feet and missed the putt.
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Yea, sometimes if the lip itself is not much an issue it can be the mound in front the bunker that needs to be cleared. That can lead to having to take a couple clubs shorter than what we want. Funny thing is that before my numerous lessons the past year and a half I actually was better from these fw bunkers than I am now. Whatever has changed about my swing (even if for the better) has lead to not being as good from the fwb as I was. But that could just be more time needed in them to work it out...lol but I think im just not being still enough with the legs. Who knows? its only been 35 freaking years....hehehe ….how can I possibly be good in only that short a time span?
 
brianmk24 said:
If somebody suffers in a bunker, it doesn't matter if they try for the green or pitch out sideways...the result is probably going to be similar.

I suck in bunkers from time to time too, but if you're positing a good lie and no interference (which is similar to a fairway lie or something reasonable in the rough), I don't see the point in the question. It's not about "can you hit it through this 100 sq ft window in the trees?" like Phil might do.
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well, ok you don't see the point of the question. thats cool, no worries. But I think its probably an interesting enough topic and enough people will have an interest to post thoughts on it. if im wrong then no harm done anyway :)
 
I'm pretty good at this. These are my tips. They might help you.

1. You need to keep your lower body pretty quiet. So, take one more club.
2. Ball first contact is a must.
3. Play the ball in the center of your stance, since you won't be able to drive with your legs.
4. Make a smooth swing with a quiet lower body.
5. Expect the ball to roll out a little more.
 
brianmk24 said:
If somebody suffers in a bunker, it doesn't matter if they try for the green or pitch out sideways...the result is probably going to be similar.

I suck in bunkers from time to time too, but if you're positing a good lie and no interference (which is similar to a fairway lie or something reasonable in the rough), I don't see the point in the question. It's not about "can you hit it through this 100 sq ft window in the trees?" like Phil might do.
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Actually, the techniques taught for a greenside bunker shot and a bunker in the fairway are very different. While there are plenty who can't do either. There are also many that have success with one type and not the other.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I'm approaching the green 99% of the time in this scenario. Sure sometimes I'll chunk it or blade it, but for the most part I can get out and near the green pretty steadily.
I take one extra club, choke up an inch, and swing shallower with no shaft lean. No idea if that's recommended or not, but it really works well for me.
Click to expand...
I do the same thing. Works well for me.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
 
leftshot said:
I'm pretty good at this. These are my tips. They might help you.

1. You need to keep your lower body pretty quiet. So, take one more club.
2. Ball first contact is a must.
3. Play the ball in the center of your stance, since you won't be able to drive with your legs.
4. Make a smooth swing with a quiet lower body.
5. Expect the ball to roll out a little more.
Click to expand...

I agree totally with this. Sometimes after swing changes via lessons you work on grooving the newer swing via the whole body movements and it can become a bit hard to then remember to quiet the bottom half down as your in the midst of working on grooving things. That's why for me I said its just time that will likely get me back on track with my fwb play. Not that it was great but was better anyway. Similar to me for the 3,5 woods from the fw. A quieter bottom helps a lot imo (at least for me). Although some yardage can be lost with a quiet bottom vs say using those same woods from a tee but at least the results are more often successful. Its just way too easy to chunk a fw wood without a somewhat quiet bottom half.
 
Unless the lip MIGHT get in the way of the shot I am going for it, if it is the slightest concern that I might catch it I am taking something that I can definitely get out and get as close to the green as possible.
 
I am clubbing up an taking a full swing. That will basically get me somewhere better than where I am at.
 
Main task is getting out of the bunker and advancing. If my usual club for that yardage gets me out of the bunker with no risk of hitting the lip, I’ll do it. Otherwise I’ll club down for the extra loft and hit a 3/4 shot then wedge in the next shot.
 
One extra club, choke down a bit, ball a little further back in the stance and let er rip
 
I admit to a unique ability to pick the ball clean with my trusty 5H from the sand. Approach shot almost every time with a good lie.
 
I've got a shallow attack angle in general so fairway bunkers don't scare me all that much. Take dead aim, club down 1 or 2 depending, choke down a bit, take a 3/4 backswing and then focus on picking it and trying to hold back my release.
 
I’m going for it as long as the club needed for the distance has the loft to clear the lip. And I use the normal club, normal swing, and do my best to ensure ball first contact.
 
Just get it out, and in a better spot. I’ll aim for the green, but if I only get it out and 30 yards closer, I’m good with that.
 
If its a good lie and theres no lip, Im going for the green every time. Even if I miss and it leaves me with a nice little up and down or even in the greenside bunker, that is still a doable shot.
 
Going for the green if there is no issue with the lie or lip and no obstructions to the green.

The only caveat is if I'm ridiculously far away then I'm probably going to lay up
 
I carry a 5i just for the fairway bunkers. It usually is the right tool, at least at my home course. Elsewhere, it leaves a wedge to the green if its longer than usual.
 
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