greenside bunker play

[rollin]

just wondering about some things and how different every one might be or how right or wrong anything is if there really is a right or wrong.

Do you -
always play a sw or something closely equivalent ?
play different clubs based on lie and distance ?
open the face more or less due to distance ?
hit the ball first and play it like a chip/short pitch if its sitting up nicely ?
always hit sand first at some small distance behind the ball regardless of lie and distance ?

And last but not least. A bit different kind of question regardless of the above questions on how you attack it. Do you find yourself too often guilty of making the very common amateur mistake of quitting on your shot only to leave it in the bunker again?

 

[DocTrussell]

greenside bunker play

I play one wedge in bunkers in green proximity. I will manipulate the face and ball placement in my stance depending on lie, distance, and sand texture.

Up until about a year or so ago, I made the common amateur mistake in bunkers of slowing the swing. After reading a good bit here and some Internet videos, I seldom will leave the ball in a greenside bunker.

Fairway bunkers are another story as I tend to get a little anxious and try to play the hero shot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[syndicate559]

If it's a greenside bunker, I'll pretty much always go with the 56. Distance affects how big and hard I swing, more than club. Unless it's a huge green and I'm in a bunker all the way across from the pin, I might grab 52, but that's very rare. I pretty much open the face no matter what. The only time I'll try to go ball first is if the bunkers are super packed/hard and are going to play more like a tight grass or dirt lie. As for the last question, I'm not too often guilty of quitting on the shot, but when I hit a bad one, that's usually the reason. I've learned that I just have to be confident in the bunkers. Doubt = more than one shot out, usually.

 

[Mark_UK]

greenside bunker play

Be a 56 degree sand wedge for me unless it's compact wet sand in which case I'll switch to my 52 degree if I can which has less bounce. Always take sand first, unless again, the sand is wet and compacted.

 

[Paladin]

If I'm greenside and don't have much room to roll out, I'll play my 59°. Otherwise, I use a 56°. Otherwise, I play it like any other high shot. Pick my line, put the ball in line with my left heel. My swing is modeled off of Dave Stockton's Unconscious Scoring book.

 

[rollin]

If I'm greenside and don't have much room to roll out, I'll play my 59°. Otherwise, I use a 56°. Otherwise, I play it like any other high shot. Pick my line, put the ball in line with my left heel. My swing is modeled off of Dave Stockton's Unconscious Scoring book.

yea, I used my 60* a couple times last round to a close pin. But I had a great sitting up lie so I just hit it like a nice chip/flop similar as if I needed to hit one over a bunker and it worked well both times. I just played the ball and not the sand. Right or wrong I don't know but it worked.

 

[Mmaynard11]

I have always used a 60* out of a green side bunker. Sand play has always been good to me and I rarely fear having to play a shot out the bunker. What if like to work on is distance control.

I rarely hit ball only and tend to hit roughly 1-11/2 inches behind the ball.

It's not often you see me leaving a ball in the bunker after the first shot.

My question would be why do the others use the degree wedge that they do. Preference?

 

[rollin]

I have always used a 60* out of a green side bunker. Sand play has always been good to me and I rarely fear having to play a shot out the bunker. What if like to work on is distance control.

I rarely hit ball only and tend to hit roughly 1-11/2 inches behind the ball.

It's not often you see me leaving a ball in the bunker after the first shot.

My question would be why do the others use the degree wedge that they do. Preference?

one thing I've noticed when occasionally playing with a better player who has good stopping power and backspin is that I have seen them hit ball first to gain good stopping power and is also one of the many reasons I was curious to ask the questions I asked.

Additionally I was always ok out of the bunkers but after listening to some videos last year that "Phil" had put out it caused too much thinking and since then I been struggling. Now I'm trying to find my older "not much thinking" type of shot I use to have but it hasn't been easy.

 

[tpluff]

It depends on the lie and where the pins at, meaning distance from where I am and how much green I have to work with. Fried eggs usually mean a 60* is coming out, as well as a short sided bunker shot. Everything else is 55*.

 

[checkered]

I will use my 54 unless I"m sitting down in the flat of the bottom of the bunker then I tend to use my 59. I'll open up the 54 more or less depending on how much room I have to work with. I'm usually pretty good about getting out unless the sand is wet and compacted.

 

[Shanep10]

Always use my 58 degree and will open face if I need to stop quickly. I always make sure I dig my feet down into sand and always hit into sand well behind ball and explode out.

 

[rollin]

It depends on the lie and where the pins at, meaning distance from where I am and how much green I have to work with. Fried eggs usually mean a 60* is coming out, as well as a short sided bunker shot. Everything else is 55*.

Wondering why the high loft for the fried egg? Whats your logic with that? I'm not questioning if your wrong but really questioning why for sake of info I can hopefully use.

 

[tpluff]

Wondering why the high loft for the fried egg? Whats your logic with that? I'm not questioning if your wrong but really questioning why for sake of info I can hopefully use.

I tried it once and it worked, just a little more bounce in it than what I previously had. Then it worked again, and again, and again, so I stuck with it.

 

[rollin]

I tried it once and it worked, just a little more bounce in it than what I previously had. Then it worked again, and again, and again, so I stuck with it.

thanks for answering but this answer is very strange for a fried egg. When listening to "phil" he explained how when the ball is embedded (fried egg) than that's when you don't want bounce because the club will go into the sand and bounce up too soon ending with a skulled shot. Says to keep the wrists from flexing and cause less bounce and more ability to get the club head under the ball without sculling it. Conversely Says you want more wrist flex to create more bounce when its a good lie so that the bounce will then get the club back up and towards the ball from underneath the ball that's sitting high. This is how I understood it and it seems to make sense. Don't want to screw you up but is it possible although its working for you its not for the reason you think? You might perhaps be swinging in such a way that is causing less bounce for that fried egg and that's why its working successfully. Does any of this make sense to you?

 

[tpluff]

thanks for answering but this answer is very strange for a fried egg. When listening to "phil" he explained how when the ball is embedded (fried egg) than that's when you don't want bounce because the club will go into the sand and bounce up too soon ending with a skulled shot. Says to keep the wrists from flexing and cause less bounce and more ability to get the club head under the ball without sculling it. Conversely Says you want more wrist flex to create more bounce when its a good lie so that the bounce will then get the club back up and towards the ball from underneath the ball that's sitting high. This is how I understood it and it seems to make sense. Don't want to screw you up but is it possible although its working for you its not for the reason you think? You might perhaps be swinging in such a way that is causing less bounce for that fried egg and that's why its working successfully. Does any of this make sense to you?

I completely understand that. With the C grind that's on the MD2, even with more bounce on normal shots, it's designed for open face and bunker shots with less bounce, which is exactly what I do in that situation. Without that design, I don't think I'd have the results that I do. Just ask Jman, it works.

 

[Dogman]

Greenside, generally my 58, but lie could change that. I really just want on the green with a chance to putt.

 

[Scrap Iron]

9 out of 10 I grab my 54 open the face and take the sand first. I can't remember the last time I left one in a bunker.

 

[ArmyGolf]

Always my 60, wide open, large swing that takes a lot of sand with it.

 

[swellins]

Green side bunkers will be nearly always my. 60*. Since I started to visualise hitting it like a normal flop/pitch my bunker play improved dramatically. When I used to think about hitting behind the ball it was terrible....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rollin]

with quite a few of you playing higher lofted clubs in the sand ( as well have I too) but I wonder to ask something the other way around. Where as do you use your sw for full swing approaches from fairways and rough a considerable distance out?

Technically the sw is made more for the sand but often I hear it included in ones yardage gaps too. Never really knew if this was right or wrong for us to be doing.

 

[Drumdog]

Do you -
always play a sw or something closely equivalent ? Always a 56* in a greenside bunker
play different clubs based on lie and distance ? No
open the face more or less due to distance ? Yes
hit the ball first and play it like a chip/short pitch if its sitting up nicely ? Never
always hit sand first at some small distance behind the ball regardless of lie and distance ? Yes