How Much Sand?

[TeachingPro]

>>How Much Sand?

If I had a Pound for every time I get asked how much sand to take in a bunker shot, I'd be very wealthy - Tiger Woods wealthy. The answer can be simple or complicated - depending on how fancy you want to get with the bunker shot.

The simple answer is:
You should hit an inch behind the ball and hit just enough sand to get under the ball - just a thin sliver of sand.

The complicated answer is:
That depends on how fast you want the ball to come out of the sand and how much spin you want. The faster you want the ball to come out and the more spin you want, the less sand you need to take. If you want the ball to come out softly without a lot of pace or spin, take some more sand. It's often a good idea if you're a good bunker player to swing hard and take a lot of sand to get the ball to 'plop' out without much energy to get to tight pin positions. If you need to fly the ball a long way, you need to 'nip' the ball off the sand like a fairway bunker shot.

So you see, it all depends on what you want the result to be and how good you are at bunker shots. That'll be a Pound please. Thank you.

[bill reed]

Re: How Much Sand?

hi
does it not also depend on the type of sand, gritty sand like you find in inland couse's with low sides to the bunker and links type fine sand with very deep sided bunkers.
i know that on the inland couse's here in east lothian, scotland you hardly ever plug a ball as the sands so heavy but on the link's course's it just the reverse.
i know i like to use my p-wedge in the inland bunkers as it slids over the sand and the sand wedge seems to bounce over the sand and into the ball more, in the link's bunkers i have use the s-wedge or my 56% wedge to get out.
bill

[TeachingPro]

Re: How Much Sand?

Oh, sure the type of sand makes a difference to advanced players but for most amateurs who struggle (or who want to improve) from sand the type of shot and execution shouldn't vary much.

If you play links courses with fine/soft sand you should use the same shot but a SW or LW with much more bounce. If you play courses with harder or thicker sand, you should be using a SW with more loft and less bounce.

Change the equipment to suite the swing and conditions, not the swing to suit the equipment and conditions.

[bill reed]

Re: How Much Sand?

hi again
i go along with using the right club for the condisions. i also think sand shots are a lot in the mind too, you think the shots going to be hard so it is, i do think a teaching pro can help your game so much with the short game and working the ball out of sand and most pros are so good at it and give you the confedence to make the shot most times you play it.
thanks
bill

[TeachingPro]

Re: How Much Sand?

hi again

i go along with using the right club for the condisions. i also think sand shots are a lot in the mind too, you think the shots going to be hard so it is, i do think a teaching pro can help your game so much with the short game and working the ball out of sand and most pros are so good at it and give you the confedence to make the shot most times you play it.
thanks
bill

100% agreed! A lot of amateurs need to stop opening the blade, firstly, secondly use the correct technique but probably most of all they need to identify the safest was out, even if its out at an angle or even backwards.

[bill reed]

Re: How Much Sand?

hi graham
i play a lot of links golf here and the bunkers are 3 to about 8 feet deep and i took a 1 hour lesson and never looked back and yes a lot of the time its out sideways, there use to be a bunker on the 9th at musselburgh back in the 50's that was 80 yards long and 16 feet deep in the middle, 7 foot deep at the lowest point and it was a good 20 feet wide, had steps down into hit and out the other side but they built a race track round the couse and moved that hole.
bill