Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we look back to our March 1979 issue where Ben Crenshaw shared explained how to get up and down from all different types of bunkers. For unlimited access to the full GOLF Magazine digital archive, join InsideGOLF today; you’ll enjoy $140 of value for only $39.99/year.
Ben Crenshaw is best known for his putting prowess, but he was no slouch in other areas of his game. You don’t win two green jackets as a one-trick pony.
With 30 wins worldwide during his career, Crenshaw won trophies at all sorts of different golf courses. Although he honed his craft on the grainy Bermuda grass in central Texas, Gentle Ben had a game that traveled beautifully.
In addition to different grass types and weather conditions, the bunker types are vastly different as you travel around the world. And back in 1979, Crenshaw joined GOLF Magazine to share his keys for getting up and down from every kind of bunker imaginable.
Crenshaw’s bunker secrets
Bunkers are as varied as the courses on which they lie. The sand at British links is different than inland American courses, and both differ from East Coast American layouts. These variations require that you approach each sand with a fresh strategy. What works at St. Andrews won’t even get you out at Oakmont.
For playing purposes, bunkers contain one of three types of sand: 1) fluffy, where loose sand and footprints go deep; 2) compacted, where loose sand and footprints are shallow, and 3) loose sand on top of a firm crust, where loose material is only a few inches deep, and you can dig your feet down to the crust.
Knowing what type of sand is in a bunker, how it is maintained and some fine points about playing from it, will save you strokes, wherever you play.
Some general bunker rules
First, when sand is fluffy, use a thick-flanged wedge and play the ball up in your stance, about off the left instep. This strategy will provide more bounce at impact, which is necessary from fluffy sand. Conversely, when sand is packed, use a thin-flanged wedge and play the ball slightly farther back — just left of center. This will help the club cut into the sand and reduce bounce, which is necessary from packed sand.
Second, pay attention to how bunkers are maintained. Coarse sand can be as fluffy as fine sand when it is raked often. You usually can learn about a sand’s consistency by walking in it on the way to your ball. In addition, look for rake marks and rakes. They often indicate fluffy sand. Toothless rakes, like those used at Muirfield Village, simply smooth sand, leaving it packed.
Third, consider local rainfall. Some sands drain better than others, and balls come out faster from wet sand.
Fluffy sand
Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, has coarse, fluffy silica sand. Fried-egg lies occur often. The loose consistency requires a hard swing to get through the sand. The club, therefore, must enter the sand farther behind the ball than usual, say, two inches rather than one. It’s difficult to spin shots from fluffy sand, so you must open the clubface as much as possible to get maximum height. Play the ball off the instep with your weight on the right foot so that you can swing under the ball and get it in the air. And a thick-flanged wedge is the best tool.
Balsams Hotel & Country Club, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, has sand similar to Oakmont’s. It came from a riverbed and more closely resembles very small pebbles, not sand, but it, too, is coarse and fluffy.
These sands drain well, and playing them wet or dry makes little difference, unless rainfall has been heavy. Over-all, though, bunker shots are played similarly from riverbed and silica sand, as long as it’s all fluffy.
Packed sand
Although the sand at Sea Pines, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and at St. Andrews in Scotland are ge- nerically different, the playing conditions are identical. Most clubs in windy areas use sand that either compacts or has large, heavy grains so that it won’t blow from the bunkers. The sand at St. Andrews is fine powder, yet compacts easily. It never is raked, just smoothed by wind and by golfers who use their feet to fill their footprints. Consequently, buried lies are rare. You can control shots from compacted sand more easily than from fluffy sand. It is difficult to hit high explosions from it, but easier to spin the ball.
Sea Pines has bleached mason sand as do many American links, including Harbour Town. As at St. Andrews, shots come out lower, but with more spin. Your club must enter the sand closer to the ball, say, an inch behind it. An easier swing is required, about a half swing, and a thin-flanged wedge is best for penetrating the sand. Ball position, though, is the key. Play it slightly left of center.
These sands drain only adequately. You may use a pitching wedge or 9-iron when they are wet or compacted.
Loose sand on firm crust
Many bunkers have a layer of loose sand on top of a firm crust. Among them are the traps at Inverness, Toledo, Ohio, site of the 1979 U.S. Open, and at Oakland Hills, Birmingham, Michigan, site of the 1979 PGA Championship. Their bunkers contain washed mason sand. The ball won’t bury often, and the club will glide easily through the sand—as long as it bounces off the undercrust and doesn’t cut into it. Cutting the crust will slow the club down so that the ball may stay in the trap.
These bunkers are perhaps the fairest, because they leave open more options. A heavy flange will bounce off the crust and pop the ball out every time. With that approach, you won’t leave many shots in the sand, but you will sacrifice some control. Or, you can use a thin flange for more control. However, the danger with such an approach lies in digging into the undercrust. The key here is your own confidence and ability: a thin flange is the best tool if you can use it properly. Otherwise, go the safer route with a heavy flange. Last, remember, when this sand is wet, it plays much like compacted sand.
