Fairway Bunker Play

When the ball finds a fairway bunker it is the result of either a poorly hit shot or one that was hit as envisioned but just misjudged. Either way, it is important to know that under most circumstances, they can easily be escaped without impact to your score. Most amateurs approach the long bunker play as an automatic bogey or worse and will not even attempt to play from one and will favor the foot wedge when no one is looking.

First things first. A fairway bunker is one those pesky sand traps strategically placed along the fairway, anywhere from 300 yards to 20 yards from the green, to gobble up balls and frustrate players.

When the ball finds one and is sitting up, the ball is very much playable with long irons, middle irons, short irons, wedges and fairway woods into the green or as a layup shot. If the ball is sitting down or buried in the sand, it is better to take your medicine and blast it out back onto the fairway for the next shot.

Assuming you have a ball sitting up on top of the sand, setup by digging the feet into the sand for stability and choking down a bit on the chosen club for control. Intend to hit this ball a little on the thin side by standing a little a taller. Hitting it thinner runs less chance of hitting the sand first which will destroy distance.

Make a swing but not a full swing for longer distances. A 3/4 swing with one more club than normal will do the trick. Try to hit the ball cleanly and a little thin and as long as there is no bunker lip, the ball will fly nicely out of the bunker with plenty of length. Because of the sand lie, expect the ball to check hard upon landing.

Sand Bunker Play