[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Unless I have an PW or less in my hand, I'm not playing over any green side bunkers.

I am not a good golfer but I am an optimist. I always think I might hit the shot of my life and clear the bunker and end up a couple of feet from the pin and make the birdie putt. Unfortunately, I rarely hit the shot of my life (come to think of it, I think I have only done it once) and I usually end up in the bunker! And I rarely get out on the first shot!

[Tyson]

Nobody has suggested keeping 90% of your weight on your left foot, to me it is the most important tip you will ever get. If you fall back on your right side the ball will not come out of the sand. Stay there, swing it like a driver, follow thru and it will come out.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Tyson

Nobody has suggested keeping 90% of your weight on your left foot, to me it is the most important tip you will ever get. If you fall back on your right side the ball will not come out of the sand. Stay there, swing it like a driver, follow thru and it will come out.

For a bunker shot, I have 60%-65% of my weight on my lead side.

I purposely didn't mention that in any post, because it's not universal advice in my opinion. I can control the bottom (depth) of my swing, most higher handicappers can't and if they have too much weigh on their lead foot, they're going to stab the club into the sand and never get out of the bunker.

Again, I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, only cautioning golfers that it might work for some folks and absolutely not work, for others.

[SHIBUMI]

Fairway Bunkers:

ball back of center
upper body arm swing
swings goes flatter-more horizontal
wrist hinge goes horizontal not vertical
pace is slower-will keep footing in sand, use more club enough to get over any lip

just that easy

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Excellent advice and I agree 100%. Making a zillion adjustments for a higher handicap player, is just asking for trouble. Use your usual setup and swing and keep your lower body quiet. Same swing, just "lower".

The average player's goal should be to make sure your next shot is a putt.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got on bunker play, relates primarily to fairway bunkers. You need to keep your lower body still or you're never going to get the sole of the club back to the exact spot you need to get it. I think the tip came from Tom Watson and he said to "pinch your knees" to quiet the lower body. As you point out, it really applies to all bunker shots. You need to limit your lower body movement (Stan Utley is a huge proponent of this, with his recommendation for a very wide stance in a bunker).

To your other point of avoiding bunkers, great advice. Unless I have an PW or less in my hand, I'm not playing over any green side bunkers, unless I have a10-15 yard gap ... I'm going around them. 2 reasons for this. A) I don't want my next shot to be out of a bunker, if I can help it. B) If I do end up in a bunker I wasn't trying to fly over, the odds are, it rolled in there. A ball that rolls into a bunker is almost always easier to get out, than a ball you flew into a bunker.

[Old Traveller]

Colin Montgomery taught me to open the face of a sand wedge for bunker shots, and I am going to continue. Any Villagers who are having trouble getting out of a bunker in one shot should give it a try. What do they have to lose. And yes, make a full swing, don't leave the face of the club in the sand.