Greenside bunker simplified

A shot that the average golfer might consider to be one of the hardest shots in golf may actually be one of the easiest because the ball is never actually being hit. The greenside bunker shot is carried out of the bunker and on to the putting surface by a wave of sand, not the club face, giving us some leeway.

This shot leaves the average player entering a bunker with feelings of hope, anxiety or complete and total fear. This fear comes from the severity of mishit that we see in the bunker, i.e., a blade over the green or leaving at our feet.

To take the teeth out of the bunker shot please dismiss thoughts of cut strokes, v-shaped swings, and open stances and simplify. The first step is to find and reference the center of your stance. While in your golf posture, reference that the placket of your shirt is directly over this point because it will be crucial in the process of identifying effective ball position.

Next, place the ball off your forward heel (for the right-handed golfer this would be the left heel). This is placing the ball ahead of center and ahead of the point where the club naturally wants to bottom out.

Now, rotate the face of your wedge open (to the right) and regrip it in the new position. Leave the stance square to your intended target while swinging along your stance line using a three-quarter motion (left arm parallel to the ground).

The effective ball position will allow the club to bottom out naturally and hit the sand first utilizing the sole of the wedge to deflect through the soft surface. This is exactly what the golf club is designed to do, and the forward ball position allows it to happen naturally with no hand manipulation.

The final piece of this process is to add an accelerating club head. If the club head is decelerating as get to the sand there will be no chance of extricating the ball. The only way to be sure the club head is accelerating is to make the follow-through longer than the backswing. This short-to-long motion ensures a naturally accelerating club head.

To recap: ball position forward of center, square stance, open face, short-to-long swing. Take to this to your next practice session and it will lead to happier bunkering.

Matt Henderson is a Class A member of the PGA of America and has been teaching golf since 2003. Prior to joining the PGA Tour Academy at TPC Las Vegas he traveled the country as an instructor for Dave Pelz, teaching clinics in more than 15 states. His instructional background includes work with Dave Pelz, Rick Martino, Dan Campbell and Kevin Weeks. He also attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in leisure sciences with a concentration in professional golf management.