Bunker Play?

[rice12oketman]

whats the best way to play a green side bunker where you need to get the ball high in the air with plenty or spin. How about a 20-40 yard bunker shot?? Where would you place the ball in you stance

Because i keep the ball in middle and i keep chunking my shots

[jeffy]

I'e had some success lately in the bunkers consciously extending the right arm in the downswing, from the inside. If my right arm is too passive, I chunk it, from either the sand or the grass. It helps to use the bounce: swing down into the sand, don't scoop. Of course, this works best if the clubface is square to open on the backswing. If you close it on the backswing, you'll have to rotate the club open to get the loft and bounce back on it.

How much sand you take is also a factor: the more sand between the club and the ball, the lower the flight and lower the backspin. That's why bounce is important: to keep the club from digging too much. Although most retail sand wedges carry 10* to 12* of bounce, the pros commonly use 14* to 16*.

Since you want to hit the sand first, you want the ball to be a little forward of where the club would naturally enter the sand. Since many players center their weight on the left foot on sand shots, they position the ball quite a bit forward (toward the hole) in their stance. I'll usually position it off the left instep or toe. Gardner d**kinson, a great bunker player, positioned the ball outside his left toe.

To get the ball higher, cupping the left wrist on the backswing has worked very well for me, both from the sand and the grass. Again, make sure the clubhead is swung down into the sand by extending the right arm. Phil Rodgers has recommended using a hook swing motion with the right arm on pitches and from the sand.

Obviously, if you carry a lob wedge with adequate bounce (10* or more), you can use it out of the sand to get extra height and spin. I often use my 64*.

20 to 40 yard bunker shot? I wish I knew...

Jeff