W L
GOLF
THE 70-100 YARD BUNKER SHOT
BY TOM ATKINSON , PGA GOLF PROFESSIONAL
The 70-100 yard bunker shot - This is the one that most golfers dread , especially if it ’ s over a penalty area ! Why is it so difficult ? I guess it ’ s sort of a hybrid shot , it ’ s not a green side splash out , and you can ’ t play it like a standard pitch because of the sand . So here ’ s my advice :
This shot need not actually be as difficult as you make it , you can ’ t ignore the yardage of course but to start with let ’ s ignore the club that would usually hit the ball this yardage from the grass . A lofted wedge , say 60 - 54 degrees comes with a degree of bounce for strike correction , yes , but ultimately it won ’ t be powerful enough to make the carry if you play a traditional bunker type shot , not to mention that if you do try and muscle it out , you ’ re likely to dig the club in too steeply and ‘ chunk ’ it out at best ( the most common mistake ).
The alternative is to take less loft , anything from a pitching wedge to an 8 iron . As you can see from this picture I ’ m still opening the face gently , playing the ball forward in my stance and favouring the left side with my weight . One key difference here is to try and take less sand than you normally would , say just an inch rather than the 2-3 inches in a green side splash , if you imagine a fried egg normally , then picture a smaller one ! The stronger club still has an element of bounce as a strike corrective but now that you ’ ve got less loft , you can play it in the less aggressive manor that you ’ re accustomed to from closer range , the advantage here of course being greater control and distance without the unnecessary effort .
Don ’ t forget your course management though . It ’ s not always the case that you can fire directly at the flag so make sure you think outside the box . A bunker shot and long put works just the same as hitting it close and tapping in !
The 151st Open Championship
It ’ s not long now until the 151st Open championship and of course it will be held next year at Hoylake . Don ’ t be caught out by the new ticket policy though . Following the success of the ballot for next month ' s Open at St . Andrews the R & A decided to retain the process to ensure as many fans as possible have the chance to attend when the championship returns to the historic links from 16th - 23rd July 2023 .
The ballot is now open until mid July but only to members of the one club , the free to join membership programme . To sign up , please visit www . TheOpen . com
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