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How would you play this shot: Plugged lie in a bunker.

War Eagle

War Eagle

the Beags of THP...
Albatross 2024 Club
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Ok, you lay up on a Par 5 to get within an easy wedge shot of 80 yards. However, your iron shot drifted off line and came to rest, plugged near the edge of the bunker.

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How do you play this shot? Emphasis on PLAY, rather than taking an unplayable lie. How do you approach this shot?
 
I'd try to blast it out then complain about it on Twitter [/s]

But really, I'd try and blast it out and get up and down from there for a par (or bogey, at worse).
 
Looks like I'm kind of on an upslope. I'm taking my 58, laying it wide open and hitting underneath the ball as hard as I can. With any hope, it pops straight up in the air. Worst scenario is it rolls back down to the bottom.
 
Swing hard and plan on leaving the clubhead in the sand after impact. It's gonna come out, likely with no spin so just be ready for a long putt and likely a bogey. Anything inside 10ft and I'm really really happy.
 
Not good odds on me getting it over the lip, I'd play it out sideways.
 
 
depending on surroundings, I play side ways to the left to make sure i'm out or if takes not possible, I take a 58* and swing hard and close my eyes and hope for the best.
 
Keeping the club face neutral or closed and swinging at it more like an axe. It will pop out.
For those saying opening up the club face and going in early, I would think the way its plugged, you would run the risk of bringing in the thin.
 
I think 80 yds is too far for that shot, the emphasis I would take on this shot, is to simply escape.
This shot has to be committed to. Make contact with the sand an inch behind the ball, with a steep downswing, strike the sand, don't expect a follow through, the ball will ride the sand out of that lie and out of the bunker.

I'd only expect the ball to fly 10-15 yds at most from there, my focus then would be putting it close, making the putt, and taking my par.
 
my concern would be the thick grass on the lip. a square face, hit really hard behind the ball and leave the clubhead in the sand, and hope that it comes out. i'm not sure there's anything gained by playing sideways.
 
JB said:
Keeping the club face neutral or closed and swinging at it more like an axe. It will pop out.
For those saying opening up the club face and going in early, I would think the way its plugged, you would run the risk of bringing in the thin.
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I was thinking the same thing, I was always taught to close the face and swing as hard as I could into the sand and hope for the best.
 
I can't read. Go figure.

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c.a.eleric said:
my concern would be the thick grass on the lip. a square face, hit really hard behind the ball and leave the clubhead in the sand, and hope that it comes out. i'm not sure there's anything gained by playing sideways.
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As a lower handicapper that's a viable option, mid to high cappers are looking just to make sure they get it out of the bunker.
 
Im just Reagan smashing it and hoping for the best. Itll probably roll back in but at least ill have a shot.
 
JB said:
Keeping the club face neutral or closed and swinging at it more like an axe. It will pop out.
For those saying opening up the club face and going in early, I would think the way its plugged, you would run the risk of bringing in the thin.
Click to expand...

This exactly for me. I'm taking a little bit less loft (maybe a 56 instead of the 60 I like to use out of greenside bunkers), keeping the face neutral or even a bit closed, and hitting down hard behind the ball.
 
Close the face and hit down on it to pop it up. The v.man special.
 
I'm going to leave the club neutral and swing about as hard as I can, taking a big chunk of sand out of the bunker. The club will probably stay in the sand kind of like I'm trying to just pop at it.
 
I would try and open my club face on my 58* and just try to get under it to get out. Not worrying about how far I go but just to get out of the bunker.
 
That rough around the bunker looks really thick so even popping out might not be the best play... You have to think what is the best option to get a par from this point or at worst a bogey. I would take a little wedge and just try to get it in the flat of the bunker where you have a wedge shot around 85 yards. Any other play brings a much bigger number in play depending on what is around the green.... This would be filed under the take your meds and move on
 
Great thread and I would never have thought to close the face and dig. My first instinct would have been to open the face up as much as possible. I'll say in my defense though none of the bunkers here have enough sand for it to be buried like that, but if when I do end up in that situation I may have a prayer.
 
I would give serious consideration to playing out sideways in the direction where my feet are in the sand when I swing. But if the situation calls for going for the green then I keep it somewhat squared and swing hard, keeping Faldo's "thumb the sand" swing thought in mind.
 
musicmaster6921 said:
I would try and open my club face on my 58* and just try to get under it to get out. Not worrying about how far I go but just to get out of the bunker.
Click to expand...

I used to think exactly that way, until I went to the grandaddy.
You take the risk of catching the ball in this instance. If you do this... The ball very well could bury deeper.
Even if you don't the ball really has nowhere to go. And the bounce in the wedge here is NOT your friend.
The reason for a neutral to closed face is to actually take sand, giving the ball something to ride out of this lie on.

Please feel free to correct me if I am incorrect.
 
I've had this shot a few times over the years. I've played it with an open face, and a closed face, swing hard hoping for a sand blast. Both options have worked, and both have failed.

About three years ago I left myself with a shot that actually looked exactly like this one. I was about 35' from the pin with a lot of green between. I played the open face swing hard jamming blast shot. Before I swung I warned my group, hoping someone would keep an eye on the ball. It worked, AND my ball ended about 8" below the cup for a kick-in par. Best part was, we had a walk-on (new club member) in our group who knows, and plays allot, with Justin Rose (he sure hit the ball well!) and I pulled that shot off with him watching. It was probably the luckiest shot result I've had in over 10 years...
 
OK, so I have an absolute crap lie and I'm 80-ish yards out. Some of this depends on where this is in the bunker, and where the bunker is located (which side of fairway). Is it buried on the side and so I'm open towards the green, or is that the edge of the bunker towards the green? I'm going with the latter, and assuming my shot drifted off to the right...

I'd play a neutral or maybe even slightly closed face on my 58, 3/4-ish swing, but steeper than normal, to try and make sure I get down in the sand through impact. My primary goal is to get myself back in a position to go at the green for a chance at an up-and-down. Hopefully, I'm out of the sand and have somewhere in the range of 80 yards, again, but I might also be playing another bunker shot of a similar distance, but without that lie/lip to deal with.
 
Wide open face with a 60°. Ball way up in my stance. Swing hard. Really hard. Thor's hammer hard. Pray.
 
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