As hard as you try not to, you’re always going to end up in the traps at some point – so you may as well learn how to hit out of fairway bunkers. Whilst many amateur golfers fear this shot, there’s no reason why you can’t escape them without racking up a big number. In fact, it mostly comes down to adopting the correct set-up.
Assessing The Lip
Firstly, however, you need to assess the lip before you even touch your clubs. You can have the perfect set-up and strike the ball perfectly, but if you don’t choose a club with enough loft, you’re going to get yourself into trouble.
(Image credit: Tom Miles)
Experience will tell you how it’s going to come out and whether you have enough loft to clear the lip, so you have to practise these shots to understand roughly how the ball will launch off each club.
‘Knock’ The Knees In
Now, let’s talk you through the correct set-up. With greenside bunker shots, you shuffle your feet into the sand, but this is not something you should do in a fairway bunker – you don’t want to lower your divot depth. Rather, you’re looking to pick the ball clean off the top.
So, just create a little wedge into the sand with the instep – both ways. This way you’re not really lowering in the sand, but creating a wedge of sand that just ‘knocks’ the knees in slightly and stabilises you.
(Image credit: Tom Miles)
Be mindful that this knocking the knees in and resisting the legs a little bit will restrict the swing slightly, so if you’re aiming at hitting the green, you want to take an extra club. You’ll probably want to go up a club from the sand anyway, but taking another extra one, on the assumption you can clear the lip, may not be a bad idea.
Go Down The Grip
Going down the grip slightly will also help you to catch the ball cleanly. Whilst the golf swing will remain the same, you don’t want to be at the top of the grip because you’re going to come in at divot depth, which is going to mean too much sand. For the same reason, position the ball fractionally back in the stance so that you get the ball early.