Browsing: bunker

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

I’ve played muni golf all my life. I was never a country-club kid and even the courses I practiced at in high school were rough around the edges. Range balls with worn-down dimples. Putting greens that looked like shag carpet. That was the norm.

These less-than-ideal conditions forced me to learn how to hit some shots that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Lobs off hardpan. Chips out of divots. Putts through craters on the greens. You get the picture.

By the time I started working in golf and got access to nicer practice facilities, I’d taught myself quite a few handy shots. However, after all those years, one shot still eluded me: the short-sided bunker shot from firm sand.

Luckily for me, one of our Top 100 Teachers, Joe Plecker, grew up as a muni kid himself. And when I approached him wanting to know more about how to properly execute this shot, he was quick to teach me his secrets.

An easy technique for an impossible shot

When I faced a short-sided bunker shot from hard sand, I always got sick to my stomach. I knew I was either going to skid the club into the back of the ball or overcorrect and catch too much sand and leave it in the bunker.

With hard sand, it’s important to get a steep angle of attack to get the clubhead to enter the sand and blast the ball out. But when you do this, it can be easy to get the leading edge stuck and catch too much sand.

To execute the shot properly, Plecker suggests setting up in two parts. First, you want a setup that promotes a steep angle of attack. Second, you want to grip the club in a way that ensures an open clubface.

For the first element, Plecker says to set up with your upper body tilted toward the target.

“This upper body forward position is going to help us maintain a very steep angle [of attack],” Plecker says.

After that, it’s time to place your hands on the grip. Plecker likes to see a very neutral grip with the lead hand for this.

“I want to see your lead hand in a neutral position,” Plecker says. “Imagine your left hand is pointed right down the top line of the grip. That’s your finesse position, meaning it’s a heck of a lot easier from there to twist the club open.”

From here, all you’ve got to do is focus on twisting and hinging the club to the top. Don’t feel like you are making a bid, full-body turn.

“This is the secret to hitting a finesse bunker shot,” Plecker says. “The first move is to cast that club.”

If you do it correctly, the club will carve into the sand and pop the ball up and out of the bunker.

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

Bunkers can be scorecard killers for recreational golfers. While pros and high-level players make escaping the sand look easy, for weekend hacks it’s anything but.

For lots of high-handicappers, just getting out of the sand is cause for celebration. But if you really want to become a stick, you’ve got to learn not only how to escape, but to give yourself a reasonable chance at making your ensuing putt, too.

The problem recreational golfers face with bunker shots is either typically a lack of understanding of the proper technique. Sure, many of them are familiar with the basic tenets (open clubface, hit behind the ball, etc.) but in practice they still are making critical errors.

Heck, I struggle with this, too. While I do know how to hit a proper bunker shot, sometimes I still struggle to execute correctly.

Luckily, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joe Plecker showed me a trick that makes hitting bunker shots a breeze. Check it out below.

This hack fixed my bunker game

In the past, when I lined up to hit a bunker shot, I gripped the club like I normally would. However, this turned out to be a huge mistake.

With a neutral (or even strong) grip, I was making it far too easy to close the clubface as I approached impact.

“That is the worst thing you can do in a bunker release is close the clubface,” Plecker says.

To combat against this, Plecker suggested weakening my lead-hand grip by rotating it more toward the target. With my hand pre-rotated in this direction, it made it harder to shut the clubface — and dig the leading edge — in the sand.

“If you were really struggling with your bunker shots and were closing the club too much,” Plecker says. “The easiest thing you can do is move that [lead] hand across the club, get it a little more in that weak position and make sure you can’t close the clubface.”

If you do that, you’ll find that popping your ball out of the bunker becomes a breeze.

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Earlier this year, Keith Mitchell stunned golf fans when he nearly holed a gutsy greenside bunker shot during the 2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open. The risky shot in question? A Thai spinner — a shot made famous by Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who’s from Thailand.

For many golfers, it was the first time they had seen this shot executed from the sand. But, according to Parker McLachlin, a GOLF Teacher to Watch, it might be the key to improving your greenside bunker game.

In a recent Instagram post, McLachlin—also known as Short Game Chef—revealed that hitting Mitchell’s unique shot from the bunker is a great way to train a shallow arc depth and low point control—one of the most important keys in the sand.

Why the Thai spinner can boost your bunker game

The reason it works is because it teaches you to enter the sand at the right time. If you watch Mitchell in the clip above, you’ll see that his club enters the sand directly under the ball, not behind it — a common mistake amateurs make from the bunker.

“Watch how little sand he takes,” McLachlin says. “It’s basically a pitch shot out of the bunker.”

As nerve-wracking as it may be to hit a pitch shot from this lie, practicing it can also help you understand if you’re utilizing the bounce of your club correctly and help you avoid digging the leading edge.

To copy what Mitchell is doing above, set up to the shot with a slightly narrow stance. Play the ball in the middle of your stance. Notice how his wrists are relatively straight as he lets his body and arms turn back and through to power the motion.

“It’s like a putting stroke,” Mitchell says.

If you’re doing it right, the ball should come out low yet controlled with a lot of roll. With enough practice you can hit greenside bunker shots with more confidence, knowing you have your low point dialed in.

ShortGameChef.com, created by PGA Tour winner Parker McLachlin, provides golfers with a comprehensive resource to improve their short game. Through personalized tips, drills, and expert insights, Parker helps players of all levels gain more confidence and a deeper understanding of their short game to lower their scores. You canbrowse membership options here.

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It happens. You hit what feels like the perfect approach shot, only to watch your ball land just short of the green. To make matters worse, the ball buries itself in the bunker. Often, those really solid, high shots are the ones that plug deep into the sand.

While a buried lie can look intimidating, with the right technique (and a little planning), you can not only get the ball out but sometimes even get it close. Here are five keys you can follow next tome you find yourself with the dreaded fried-egg lie.

1. Let the leading edge dig

On a typical greenside bunker shot, you use the club’s bounce — the rounded sole — to help it glide through the sand instead of digging. That works great from a good lie, but not when the ball is buried.

When the ball is plugged, you need the leading edge of your wedge to dig into the sand. This starts with your setup: position the club so the face isn’t wide open and the shaft leans slightly forward. That promotes a steeper entry into the sand and lets the leading edge do its job.

2. Put your weight forward

To help the leading edge dig, lean slightly toward the target at address. Let your lead shoulder drop and your shaft lean forward proportionally.

This setup reduces the club’s bounce and steepens your angle of attack. Your lead shoulder should sit lower than your trail shoulder, which helps the club drive downward through the sand — which is key to getting the ball to pop out.

3. Tilt your shoulders forward

When you tilt your shoulders toward the target, your swing naturally becomes steeper. That’s exactly what you want from a buried lie.

A steeper angle of attack, combined with the digging leading edge, helps you get the clubhead below the ball. Picture your downswing as a straight line down rather than a shallow, circular sweep.

4. Stay forward

Keep your weight and upper body forward throughout the swing. Avoid the temptation to fall back and “lift” the ball — that will only make the club bottom out too early.

This is a digging motion, not a sweeping one. Stay forward through impact and into your finish, even if your follow-through feels short or looks a bit unorthodox. That’s normal for this shot — the steep swing and heavy sand contact will naturally limit your finish.

5. Plan for more roll

Leaning forward de-lofts the clubface, so the ball will come out lower and with more roll. Aim for an area with room to run.

Remember, this is a defensive shot — the main goal is simply to get the ball out and onto the green. If you find the ball coming out too hot, switch to a more lofted club like a lob wedge to help add a bit of height.

The game of golf is full of bizarre rules situations, and at the Sanderson Farms Championship on Saturday, viewers got to see a rare ruling play out in real time.

On the par-4 15th hole at the Country Club of Jackson, tournament contenders Garrick Higgo and Eric Cole hit their drives into the front right greenside bunker. When they arrived to hit their second shots, they found their balls nestled together in the sand. What do you do in that situation? Even the players needed extensive direction from the onsite rules official.

According the the information relayed on the broadcast, Higgo was the first to play off the tee. His ball left a track in the bunker before coming to rest. Cole then hit his tee shot to the same place, and Cole’s ball followed Higgo’s track, pushing Higgo’s ball into a more buried lie before settling right next to it.

The rules official directed Higgo to play first, so Cole was able to mark his ball with a tee and then move it one club-length to the side so the tee wouldn’t interfere with Higgo’s shot.

Because Higgo’s ball was moved by Cole’s shot, once Cole marked, Higgo replaced his ball as nearly as possible to where his ball originally ended up — essentially in the position where Cole’s ball came to rest. Once Higgo played his shot, the bunker could be raked, Cole’s ball could be replaced, and he could play his second shot. No penalty was assessed to either player.

“I’ve had the opposite of [the bunker situation on 15] before,” Higgo said after his round. “At Sea Island a couple of years ago, I was playing with Brian Gay on 18, he hit it in the greenside bunker, and I hit it after him in his pitch mark, which is the opposite of this, and I had to play that one because it was already like that before I hit. This one, I hit first, so I apparently was entitled to the lie that I had.”

Garrick Higgo sinks 5-foot birdie putt on No. 15 at Sanderson Farms

For Higgo, the ruling caused zero disruption to his game. He hit the bunker shot to five feet, then drained the putt for birdie. Cole followed with his own bunker shot to 12 feet but missed the birdie putt to settle for a par. Higgo currently leads the tournament by two shots heading into the final round.

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