Few things in golf are as challenging as the short greenside bunker shot. With the flag only a few feet from the bunker, it’s a difficult shot to make. If you decelerate the clubhead upon entering the sand, you’ll leave the ball in the bunker or mis-hit it. If you strike the ball firmly, you might hit the ball beyond the hole, leaving a long return putt. Either way is not good.
You need a lot of finesse to make this shot. Here are 6 keys to doing it successfully.
You need to take a shallow cut of sand from beneath the ball, just as you would for most bunker shots. But you need to make a couple of adjustments to your set up to generate the flight and soft landing this shot demands.
First, widen your stance a little for more stability. Also, stand a little more open than normally, which allows your hands to clear your hips as you swing. And finally, lower your hands and place them behind the ball, adding loft to the clubhead. Remember: you want to maximize the clubhead’s loft. That way you can be aggressive through impact yet only hit the ball a few feet.
Also, try “cupping” your left wrist as you bring the clubhead back, exaggerating its open position so that the clubhead’s face points skyward. As you come forward from the top of the backswing, accelerate the clubhead into the sand. Try to feel your right hand (for right handers) work in under your left as you complete your downswing.
Finish with a short follow-through. As you do, check to see that the clubhead is fully open and that you’re looking directly at the face of the clubhead. If you are, it probably was successful.
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How To Break 80…And Shoot Like The Pros!. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that was able to figure out the secrets of shooting in the 70’s on a consistent basis without quitting your day job. Jack has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.