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What happens when you’re faced with a long bunker shot to a flag over 100 or even 200 feet away? Some tips and techniques on how to tackle this shot are listed below:
1. To execute this shot properly you need to assess the predicament you’re in, and ask yourself a few questions before even entering the
sand.
a. How good a lie do I have?
b. How close am I to the lip of the bunker?
c. How level is the bunker?
If you have a good lie (ball perched up on sand), have a level stance in the bunker, and won’t have too many issues with the getting over the lip, it’s time to go for it!
2. Once you’ve determined that it’s a go-shot, it’s time to choose a club. Here’s where you can use anywhere from an 8-iron right down to the Sand Wedge. For the 100 foot shot for example, I’m going to explain the technique for use with a 9 iron.
3. With 9 iron in hand, us square stance with the ball in the middle of your stance.
4. You are going to open the clubface about 10 degrees, and open your stance the same amount so that the leading edge of the club is perpendicular to your target line.
5. The beauty with using a 9 iron for this shot is that you can now take a pitch shot swing with good tempo and allow for the stronger loft of the club to propel the ball a much further distance than a Sand Wedge will. Another bonus is that if you catch the ball flush, it will come out with a lot of spin and stop quickly. If you catch some sand behind the ball, the ball will release toward the hole a good distance.
Practice this shot with a variety of different clubs and swing lengths, and you will feel confident enough to play almost ANY shot from the Sand, and get it close!!
Andrew
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