Part IV: Bunkers And Trouble Play
Lesson #66: How to Play the Hardest Shot

As far as I'm concerned, the hardest bunker shot is the severely downhill lie. Invariably the assignment is to get the ball up quickly while the slope is working hard against you.

Still, there's no reason to bail out with a chip shot to the side, if you know the proper technique. Begin by playing the ball well back in your open stance. Depending on the seventy of the slope, the proper position could be as far back as your right toe. This will leave your hands well ahead of the ball and most of your weight on your left side. It will also take much of the effective loft off your wedge, so compensate for this by opening the blade wide. On this shot more than any other, you'll need to pick the club up quickly and return it steeply to the sand. You'll also have to strike the sand closer to the ball than usual.

The common error on this shot is to blade the ball into the the face of the bunker or over the green. But if you make a point of hitting down hard, then you'll be able to get the wedge under the ball, and that action will lift it up and over the lip.

Illustration by Jim McQueen

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