No Wonder Amateurs Stink From Fairway Bunkers

Last night Michael Breed of The Golf Fix demonstrated how to play from various different lies and situations. He talked about the fairway bunker shot, the dreaded bunker shot from 40-80 yards out, and finally various greenside bunker shots.

During the segment on fairway bunkers, Breed confirmed something I had been thinking about. He said that most amateurs struggle from fairway bunkers because we don't get a chance to practice this shot.

When the average golfer arrives at the golf course for a round, they get a bucket of balls and head to the range and start banging away. Some courses don't even have a place to hit out of a bunker, and if there is a bunker facility, in my experience, very few take the time to get in there and practice. Maybe it's because it's not really fun to practice from the bunker. Maybe it's because they don't want to get dirty before a round. The other reason is that some golfers show up 15 minutes before their round and there simply isn't enough time.

Getting back to fairway bunkers, when have you ever seen a fairway bunker in the practice area? I would venture to say never. It's no wonder we stink. We never get a chance to hone our skills in this area of our game.

So how do we get better from the fairway bunker? You could get into the bunker that is meant for greenside practice. This might prompt a visit from the starter asking you to leave the course. That's not good. The alternative is to watch videos on the subject. Don't just watch though. Pay attention to what the instructor is saying and mimic their actions as best as possible. It's not an impossible shot, we just need to use the proper technique.

Normally I would post a video, but I am still posting from my iPhone. So get on YouTube and browse around. BTW...My online swing coach, Mike Southern, who publishes Ruthless Golf, just wrote an article entitled "Digging A Buried Ball Out Of The Sand". It is one more bunker shot that Breed didn't cover during the show. You can find his blog to the right under Golf Fanatics.

Good luck with this shot if you find yourself in a fairway bunker during your next round. Of course the best defense is not to hit in there in the first place so that it doesn't even become an issue. Keep it in the fairways. Have a great round and always hit your target.

Photo found here.