11 min
Long Bunker Shot
1 min
For many golfers, there's one goal when they find themselves in a bunker: get the ball out of the bunker. Somewhere. Hopefully, close to the putting surface. While escaping the sand is certainly a good first priority for bunker play, in truth, it's setting the bar very low. And you can do better.
In this video, Titleist staff member Trillium Rose talks bunkers, and she even raises the stakes, showing that sound bunker fundamentals will allow you to get up and down regularly, even on the toughest of the tough – a long bunker shot. Follow Trillium's keys the next time you're beached and see how easy it is to have control and consistency in your bunker game:
1. Open the face of your sand wedge and THEN take your grip. Even on long bunker shots, the face must be open to expose the bounce on the club. Using the bounce properly will allow you to swing aggressively without fear of digging.
2. Take a wide stance and lower the handle of the club. When you open the face of your wedge, the face naturally points to the right (for a right-handed golfer). Lowering the handle counteracts this effect and aims the face back on target.
3. Take a full backswing, elevate the club and rotate aggressively with your torso through the shot. For longer shots, rotate faster. For shorter shots, rotate more smoothly, but for any bunker shot, you must accelerate through impact.
4. Open the face of your club and using the bounce gives you much greater margin for error. Forget contacting the sand one inch behind the ball. Enter the sand 4-6 inches behind the ball and think about removing a lot of sand beyond the ball, as well.
In this video, Titleist staff member Trillium Rose talks bunkers, and she even raises the stakes, showing that sound bunker fundamentals will allow you to get up and down regularly, even on the toughest of the tough – a long bunker shot. Follow Trillium's keys the next time you're beached and see how easy it is to have control and consistency in your bunker game:
1. Open the face of your sand wedge and THEN take your grip. Even on long bunker shots, the face must be open to expose the bounce on the club. Using the bounce properly will allow you to swing aggressively without fear of digging.
2. Take a wide stance and lower the handle of the club. When you open the face of your wedge, the face naturally points to the right (for a right-handed golfer). Lowering the handle counteracts this effect and aims the face back on target.
3. Take a full backswing, elevate the club and rotate aggressively with your torso through the shot. For longer shots, rotate faster. For shorter shots, rotate more smoothly, but for any bunker shot, you must accelerate through impact.
4. Open the face of your club and using the bounce gives you much greater margin for error. Forget contacting the sand one inch behind the ball. Enter the sand 4-6 inches behind the ball and think about removing a lot of sand beyond the ball, as well.
