Scenario

We have all done it, thought we've hit the perfect shot only to find out its landed in the bunker. Well I'm going to try and help you using this quick and simple tutorial.

1. The Lie

The lie of the ball in the bunker is usually the first tell tale sign of what type of shot you wish to play. The better the lie the more spin you can impart on the ball and this then creates control. However lets face facts how many times do we get these in a bunker?

Well the answer is not many. So as the lie becomes worse, so does the amount of control you have of the golf ball during the bunker shot.

You can get many different scenarios within the bunker, from plugged to sidehill lies. Therefore its important to adopt specific shots to suit as one bunker shot will not suit them all. However for this situation we are going to start with the basic bunker shot.

2. Club Selection

Its important to select a club that has the required amount of loft to get you out of the bunker first. Most people use the sand wedge or lob wedge for this shot, however both clubs will result in very different shots.

The sand wedge will often produce the more bounce out of both clubs and its bounce we require to produce a good golf shot from the bunker. Bounce is the over bevelling on the sole of the club. The clubs design is key to playing the bunker shot as the club should "bounce" through the sand and not create the digging effect of a lower degree bounce modelled sand wedge. Remember its important that the club travels through the sand without touching the ball and bounce on a golf club is essential to reproduce good bunker shots. So get to know what bounces are on your wedges.

3. The Shot

Its important to know what kind of shot your going to play before you play it. If you dont and you just hit at the ball expecting it to come out? Well its going to be a long day. First of all opening the stance can increase the overall loft of the shot, so its important to understand how much or if I need to use the open stance at all.

The quality of the sand and texture must be checked and this is normally done by wedging the a good foundation with the feet a good inch below the surface of the sand. This is the best method of analysing sand texture without incurring penalty shots.

After you have got good foundation your ready to play the shot. Remember if your playing with a slightly open stance you must always swing along the line of your stance for the desired loft. Crossing swingpaths at this point is not a good idea. Next thing is to relax a play as graceful a swing as possible. Remember 3/4 backswing to full finish with the club pointing to the sky always helps but sometimes this is not achievable depending on the area of the bunker you are in. As a golden rule try it.