How to get out of a green side bunker!
 

What must happen to give you any chance of getting out of a green side bunker in one shot?

No its not a hand mashie.............

First - do not hit it in a footprint.

I watch so many people decelerate their swing, or try to clip the ball with a chipping stroke, and can’t get out of the bunker. A nice smooth full swing that splashes under the ball, never touching the ball itself, that leaves a shallow dollar bill sized divot, almost always throws the ball gently onto the green with some backspin.

As Homer Simpson said when taking a bunker lesson, when the instructor told him to open up the club face and use a sand wedge. Ummmmmm, open faced club sandwich.

Sand wedges are designed with bounce to get the the sand out of the bunker. The ball will be on top of the sand. In order to use the bounce that is built into the sand wedge, you have to open the club to expose the bounce, as much as 45°. But, make sure you RE GRIP the sand wedge after you open the face, or the leading edge will return to a square position and negate the bounce. Thump that ball out by using a full follow through. Aim 1 or 2 inches behind the ball. Remember the sand lifts the ball out.

To see the bounce, hold up the sand wedge in front of your eyes and twist it open. You will see the bounce between the leading edge and the bottom of the bounce.

Don’t bail out of swing, if right handed aim to left.

No need to open the face, according to this guy. Unless you are at St Andrews and must get out of a 20-foot-deep bunker, then yes. Or if you are a pro and want to land the shot exactly within a 2 square inch area, then yes.

But most of our sand shots in TV are not hard ; we just want to get the ball out. That's easier to do with a square club face.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKmIA5vGchQ

He's not the only one on YouTube giving the same advice. Opening the face is definitely overrated for the typical hacker. Hitting down and through the ball (not quitting on the shot) is the ticket.

Are you talking Villages sand or normal golf course sand traps...?

Or executive vs. Championship sand?
😶

I still contend, expose the bounce and use the bounce. The sand wedge was designed that way.

Coming across the ball by aiming your feet left accomplishes the same thing by exposing the bounce, except it harder to get the ball close. But you should be able to get the ball on the green.

There is hardly a single player on the PGA (or low handicapper, anywhere), who "opens the face" on a sand shot. Modern Sand Wedges and the sand that's typically used at golf courses these days, do not require the face to be open.

For the last 20 Rounds, I've average 39% "up & down" from Bunkers (which would put me DFL on the PGA Tour), but pretty good for single-digit. I would never open the face on a Sand Wedge, unless I was making some sort of specialty shot. Opening the face is why most amateurs blade bunker shots across the green.

Most modern Sand Wedges (depending on the grind) do not add bounce when you open the face. Rarely will you find a good player, who doesn't have heal relief grind on his Sand Wedge ... it's the modern way. If you need to add loft, you lower your body & hands (Stan Utley method).

If you have a problem with Bunker Shots: align square, keep your club face square ... picture the golf ball as a "sunny side up egg" and swing so you get the whole egg.

New technology
 

I've always had problems with bunkers until I spent $65 and tried a used C3I sand wedge. You have to simply line up in a regular stance and hit the sand an inch or two behind the ball. My golf partners kid me about the best $65 I ever spent. I was keeping track until about my 30th sand shot several months ago when I was 27 for 30 successful shots.

For the average player, specially sand wedges like that, are a god send. Cleveland Smart Sole is a particularly good one.

I have 3 or 4 such wedges, that I give to friends, who really struggle with bunkers. Getting out of a bunker is almost automatic with that sort of wedge. What they lack in flexibility, they made up for, in consistency.

Good stuff
 

A lot of good stuff here but not what guarantees the best success in a green side bunker. Here is a clue, it aint the arrow it's the Indian.

Tools are tools it's how you use them that counts. To answer the riddle focus more on the swing itself...

Clue: it's not a chipping swing unless you have totally given up on the bunker swing. You might as well just putt it out.

The swing is ALWAYS the thing. Please keep thinking, you will see this on every bunker shot on TV and it's a must to get out.

A lot depends on the conditions. If the sand is wet and there is no lip, I just use a Texas Wedge or putter as its commonly known...

Totally agree. Love my CI3. Like you, my success percentage has skyrocketed.