Bunkers are the marmite of golf. Some players love them and have no issue at all getting the ball out and near the flag, and others play in fear of ever entering the sand, knowing they are just as likely to leave the ball in the bunker than get out of it, and there isn’t often anything in between.
If you want to learn how to escape bunkers, then you can watch the video below to see how Hannah Holden and PGA Golf Professional Jack Backhouse work on their technique and improve their bunker play.
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Getting out of bunkers every time
The first place to start when having a hard reset in bunkers is figuring out where your golf club first makes contact with the sand at impact. This is really the most important factor when it comes to getting the ball out of the sand and onto the green with control.
How you can do this is, without a golf ball, draw a line in the sand about 3 feet long, and then make some swings trying to hit the line with your club. By doing this, you will clearly see where you are entering the sand and if it is too far forward or too far back from where it needs to be. Ideally, the golf club would hit the sand 1 inch behind the ball, and this is the same regardless of whether there is no sand, loads of sand, or if you are standing on any kind of slope.
Golfers should train themselves to hit the sand 1 inch behind the ball, keeping the ball position the same and then control their distance by varying the length of swing and club head speed, but always hit the sand in the same place. A great drill for this is to put an alignment stick down in the sand roughly 4 or 5 inches behind the ball and hit some shots trying to avoid hitting the stick. Moving your sand entry point closer to the ball will allow you to hit the ball high with spin and with more control than you have ever had before.
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It also helps to have a specialised wedge to use in the sand, not just the sand wedge that comes as part of an iron set. This is because they are designed with specialised grinds and lower leading edges that help the club move through the sand smoothly and not dig. Keeping the divot shallow and even helps get the ball out more often too.
You can then train your touch and feel out of bunkers by hitting a lot of shots to varied targets at different distances. Knowing how hard to hit the ball is a skill that can only be developed by hitting the sand correctly, and then by hitting a lot of different length golf shots. Hannah explains that she controls distance with her left arm, extending it more through the ball for long shots and keeping it short for shorter softer bunker shots.
Learning how to get out of bunkers every time will help you play with more freedom and confidence, as you won’t be struck by fear when hitting shots to a green surrounded by them. Tour players often prefer to be in bunkers than on grass because of the spin control the sand allows you, so get out into your practice bunker and nail your sand entry point.
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