Scottie Scheffler hits a bunker shot last week at the Tour Championship.
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Scottie Scheffler is in a bunker about 60 to 70 yards away from the hole, and we’ll give away the ending.
He drops his ball to about 8 feet.
Stop us if you’ve read this one before, right? The remarkable is predictable from Scheffler as he’s been all-everything this year on the PGA Tour. Eight wins, including ones at the Masters, Olympics, the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. Statistical brilliance. All of which is meant to say, though, that if the man is offering a tip, you listen, and on a video recently posted to the social-media feeds of one of his sponsors, TaylorMade, Scheffler gave a pair.
First, the video. It’s below, and you should have a watch, and we’ll reconvene with some thoughts when it’s over.
The best golfer in the world takes on the hardest shot in the game.
Good stuff. The main subject of the video was long greenside bunker play, and there, Scheffler had five tips for what he labeled as one of the hardest shots in golf. We’ll describe them in the order that they were presented on the video.
— Scheffler said he tries to hit it like a regular bunker shot.
— He moves the ball up in his stance.
— He opens the club up, then grips it.
— He hits it about an inch or so behind the ball — “but basically,” he said, “I’m just trying to feel that bounce go into the sand and then propel that ball forward.”
— He uses a less lofted club; in his case in the video, he used a club with less loft than a lob wedge. “I’d have to like barely hit behind the ball,” he said of using the lob wedge, “and there’s a high risk of either blading it or coming up way short. When you use lower loft for these longer shots, then it becomes much more consistent.”
On the video, he then hit to about 8 feet.
But back to the third thought, the one talking about the grip. It was a universal sand thought. On the video, Scheffler said this:
“I open the club up, then grip it,” he said. “That’s a very important part when you’re in the sand — don’t grip it normal and then open it up because your hands will return.”
Understandably, the words “very important part” from a world No. 1 should make you take notice.
For convenience, below is the complete text from Scheffler from the video:
“Probably got 60 to 70 yards to that back pin. And I would say this is probably one of the hardest shots in golf, the really long bunker shot. To hit this shot, I still try and hit it like a regular bunker shot. So ball a little bit up in my stance, I open the club up, then grip it. That’s a very important part when you’re in the sand — don’t grip it normal and then open it up because your hands will return. I’m probably trying to hit an inch or so behind the ball, but basically I’m just trying to feel that bounce go into the sand and then propel that ball forward. And the shot gets a lot simpler when you’re using less loft, versus if I had to get in here with a lob wedge — I’d have to like barely hit behind the ball, and there’s a high risk of either blading it or coming up way short. When you use lower loft for these longer shots, then it becomes much more consistent.”
Editor’s note: To help further the conversation, below is a story written in 2021 by GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kellie Stenzel that was headlined “10 tips to help you master long greenside bunker shots.” You can also read it by clicking here.
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The long greenside bunker shot has a reputation of being one of the most difficult shots in golf. But I’ve got good news for you: That’s a false reputation. If you understand the necessary adjustments you need to make in your club selection, setup and swing, you’ll be getting up and down from these spots more than you ever imagined.
These are the steps you need to master longer greenside bunker shots.
1. Weight balanced at address
One of the most basic aspects of the setup is also one of the most crucial parts of hitting long bunker shots. If you don’t have your weight balanced over the shot, there’s little hope of being successful on any kind of consistent basis.
2. Move ball position forward
There are certain fundamentals that apply to all your greenside sand shots. The most important among them: You have to have your clubhead make contact with the sand before the ball, so it slides under the ball and exits.
To do this, you need to move the ball position forward of center in your stance and aim to have the club enter the sand in the middle of your stance.
3. Dig feet into sand
Another common fundamental of all greenside sand shots is to dig your feet into the sand enough to make the soles of your shoes disappear. When you do that, it lowers the bottom of your swing’s arc, which will make the club go into the sand more easily.
Being able to hit and throw sand out of the bunker should come from a good setup. It’s not something you should have to think about — it’s something that should naturally happen.
4. Make a long divot
We’ve talked a lot about taking a lot of sand so far, but you’ll still need to fight the inclination to lift up. So here’s a swing thought for you: Visualize taking a long divot. This will prevent you from falling back and trying to lift the ball into the air, which will only lead to you catching the golf ball thin.
5. Practice without the golf ball
It can be very helpful to practice bunker shots without a golf ball. Think about making nice long divots and throwing the sand far with your club.
In my playing days, I became a respectable greenside bunker play, and I did this because I spent a fair amount of time hitting shells out of the bunker using my club. This taught me the right motion. Adding a golf ball was the easy part.
6. Up your club
For longer greenside bunker shots, one of the easiest and most obvious things you can do is to simply use a less-lofted wedge, like a gap wedge (typically around 52 degrees). The lesser loft on the wedge, the longer the ball will travel with less effort. If you’ve never used your gap wedge from the sand, you may be amazed at the new shot you have in your arsenal.
7. Turn around your body
If you need more distance and have already clubbed up, think of making a bigger backswing by producing a bigger turn more around your body. This will help produce shoulder turn and a more shallow backswing. This greater turn and more shallow approach will also help your golf ball to travel farther while still letting the club slide under the ball.
8. Square-up the clubface
Usually for greenside bunker shots, you need to open the clubface, which increases the loft and sends the ball higher — but also shorter. If you’re facing a longer greenside shot from a bunker, simply square up the face so the markings on the clubface are facing more of the golf ball. Use the club as it’s designed and use the bounce to your benefit. [This contradicts Scheffler, though he hits the ball farther than the standard amateur.]
9. Turn through aggressively
If you’ve made a nice big backswing, it means you’ve created a lot of energy. But all that energy you created will only be turned into speed and power if you use your pivot. If you turn back, you need to turn through.
If you don’t turn through aggressively, you’ll decelerate and catch the ball fat. When you swing through, allow your trail heel to come off the ground. Not only will this help to produce speed, but it will also make it much more likely to have a long divot.
10. Swing with speed
Along those lines, a greenside sand shot is like a full swing. You don’t just need to make a full swing, but you need real speed like a full swing. This can seem counterintuitive because you are so close to the target, but the sand acts as a buffer between the clubface and your ball. You need energy to generate enough power to propel the ball and sand across the green.
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
