Bunker shots: how to get out of the sand

A bunker is a hollow filled with sand, placed to catch shots that miss the fairway or the green. Bunker shots scare a lot of golfers, but the basic technique is simple and, from a decent lie, a greenside bunker is one of the few shots in golf where you don't even hit the ball. This guide covers the two kinds of bunker shot, the rules that are different in sand, and how bunkers play in One Fairway.

Greenside and fairway bunkers

• Greenside bunkers sit beside or in front of the green. They're usually deeper, with a steep face (the lip) you have to get over. The goal: out and onto the green, first time.
• Fairway bunkers sit along the fairway, often where a drive lands. They're usually shallower, and the goal is distance: get out cleanly and move the ball up the hole.

They need almost opposite techniques: in a greenside bunker you hit the sand, in a fairway bunker you try to hit the ball first.

The greenside splash shot

For a normal lie, with the ball sitting on top of the sand:

1. Take a sand wedge (or a lob wedge). Its sole, the bounce, is designed to skim through sand rather than dig.
2. Open the clubface a little, then take your grip. This adds loft and lets the bounce work.
3. Dig your feet in slightly for a stable base, with a little more weight on the front foot. Stand a touch open (aimed left of the target, for a right-hander).
4. Ball forward of centre, about opposite the front heel.
5. Pick a spot in the sand an inch or two behind the ball and hit that spot, not the ball. The sand carries the ball out.
6. Swing with speed and finish. The commonest mistake is decelerating: a big, slow swing that stops at the sand leaves the ball in the bunker. You need roughly twice the swing you'd use for a pitch of the same distance, and a full follow-through.

Distance control comes from the length of the swing and how much sand you take: less sand, more distance. Practise with a line drawn in the sand and try to enter it at the same place every time.

The fairway bunker shot

1. Check the lip first. Choose a club with enough loft to clear it easily. Losing ten yards is better than hitting the face and staying in.
2. Take one more club than from the fairway, and grip down slightly on the handle.
3. Ball in the middle of the stance, feet only lightly settled, weight a touch forward.
4. Swing smoothly with a quiet lower body, and focus on striking the ball first. Even a fraction of sand before the ball costs a lot of distance.

If the lie is poor or the lip is high, take a wedge and play out sideways or short. One shot to get out beats two to get out.

The rules in a bunker

Under the Rules of Golf (2023 edition), the main differences in a bunker are:

• Don't touch the sand with your club right in front of or behind the ball, in a practice swing or in your backswing. Doing it costs two strokes in stroke play, or the hole in match play. You may remove loose impediments (leaves, stones) and movable obstructions (a rake).
• An unplayable ball in a bunker: for one penalty stroke you can drop in the bunker (back on the line, or within two club-lengths); for two penalty strokes you can drop outside the bunker, back on a line from the hole through where the ball lay.
• Rake the bunker when you leave. It's etiquette, not a rule, but the next golfer will thank you. Golf etiquette.

Avoiding bunkers in the first place

• Know the carry. If a fairway bunker sits at 230 yards and your drive carries 220, it's in play; a club that stops short of it takes the bunker away. Golf club distances.
• Aim away from the greenside sand, toward the fat part of the green, especially when the flag is tucked behind a bunker.
• Short-sided is worst. Missing on the side of the green nearest the flag leaves a bunker shot with no green to work with.

Bunkers in One Fairway

Sand is one of the lies in One Fairway, alongside tee, fairway, rough and green, and it plays like this:

• Sand costs distance. The ball carries 30% less with wedges and irons, 40% less with the hybrid and 50% less with a wood, and spins less. The club button shows the lie before you swing, for example "SAND −30%".
• Full, pitch or flop only. From sand you can play a full shot, a pitch or a flop, but not a chip or a punch, because a rolling ball can't climb a bunker's lip. Get it in the air.
• Sand is the deadest surface on the course. A ball that lands in a bunker hardly bounces or rolls, so it usually stays in.
• The caddie suggests a sand wedge from a bunker. From a long fairway bunker, think about choosing a longer club yourself, allowing for the sand's loss and the height of the lip.
• No penalty for sand, and no plugged or "fried egg" lies: if you're in a bunker, you can play it. In a match, two shots on a hole that finished in sand or water count as struggling, so you can concede or pick up and move on.
• Stonepine has 41 bunkers, at least one on every hole. The 12th, "Ring of Sand", has three around its green, and the 8th has a deep greenside bunker. Hole-by-hole guide.

Questions

How do you hit out of a greenside bunker?
Use a sand wedge with the face slightly open, the ball forward, and hit the sand an inch or two behind the ball with a full, accelerating swing. The sand carries the ball out.

Can you touch the sand in a bunker?
Not with your club right in front of or behind the ball, in a practice swing or in your backswing. That's a two-stroke penalty in stroke play, or loss of the hole in match play.

How much distance do you lose from a bunker in One Fairway?
The ball carries 30% less with wedges and irons, 40% less with the hybrid and 50% less with a wood. The club button shows the loss before you swing.

Find the sand on Stonepine (or avoid it): it's free, and you can start as a guest. More: golf swing basics · bogey golf.