Gary Nicol’s Short Game Secrets: Plugged in a bunker
In our quest to learn how to improve shot selection, The Golf Shack Academy on tour found our way to Archerfield Links, East Lothian, Scotland. Whilst there, we caught up with Gary Nicol, European Tour coach at TPEGS coaching, also based at Archerfield.
We asked Gary for a few tips on how to approach bunker play, specifically when faced with a plugged lie in a bunker.
Ordinarily I would suggest that you open up the club face to add a little loft, create more back edge and more bounce. However, if you do that the more bounce you have here means the club just won’t dig deep enough to get under the ball and pop it out.
So rather than open the face I suggest you close the face a little. We are trying to get the toe of the club to dig in and push the club down into the sand.
The more I push the club down into the sand the more the sand gets pushed up and pushes the ball up. A bit like a volcano effect.
As I have less loft I know the ball will come out a little bit lower, a little bit faster and will run out a bit more. We have to accept that we have very little control of where the ball will end up but the main thing here is getting it out of the bunker.
About Gary
Renowned European Tour coach, TrackMan Master and Certified Mind Factor coach Gary Nicol is available for private coaching at Archerfield Links. Gary has successfully coached golfers of all abilities over a 25 year period and spent 16 years traveling around the world.
He has worked with over 30 Tour Pros including numerous tournament winners and Ryder Cup players. Gary offers a range of private coaching programmes including – individual one hour lessons, playing lessons, video lessons and analysis. All this is delivered to your email address and smartphone for you to watch and learn from, wherever and whenever you want.
About Archerfield
The Performance Centre located in East Lothian, Scotland is regarded as one of the finest golf Coaching and Fitting Facilities in Europe. It boasts state of the art technology from; TrackMan, V1 Video, GEARS, SAM PuttLab and SAM BalanceLab.
They provide an enhanced level of coaching for all levels of ability and world class Junior Coaching programmes.
If you are looking for new golf equipment then look no further, they are now custom fitting PING, Titleist and Callaway golf clubs with a wide range of components and club options available. Their custom fit experts will work with you to find the best solution for your game.
Gary Nicol’s putting principles: Pace
Gary Nicol’s short game secrets: Uphill lie in a bunker
