Your ball is plugged in a bunker. Not a great situation. Not the end of the world, either. Depending on your skill level and swing speed, I have two easy ways to knock this one up and close.
1. Low handicaps/fast swingers: Since you have speed, try this: Set up with a slightly open stance and with the face open. As you grip the club, focus on squeezing the handle harder with your lead hand.
Your goal: Bury the heel of the club into the sand to lift the ball up and out. This feeling, combined with your open stance and open clubface, should give you the exit and loft you need to land this one close.
2. High handicaps/slow swingers: Again, hold tighter with your lead hand. But set up with the clubface closed, the toe of the club pointing left of target.
Now, just pound sand. You don’t even need to finish. Simply bury the clubhead into the bunker with that closed face and you’ll be money.
Debbie Doniger is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and the director of instruction at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford, N.Y.
