Bunker Masterclass

My best tips and drills for everything from the routine splash to the plugged lie.

- Andy Sullivan with Jeremy Ellwood

Bunker shots can fill club golfers with dread, and one of the key problems is that they haven’t worked out how to get the club entering the sand consistently in the same place. The best players on tour consistently enter the sand at the same point, whether they are playing the high shot, the low one or whatever.

Many club golfers also believe you have to open everything up, then cut across the ball, but I think that’s such a misconception because if you’re cutting across it, you’ll be hitting the ball out of the toe most of the time. The ball’s not going to go forward then, it’s just going to glance off to the right. It’s probably a result of watching Seve over the years, but without being rude, he was a bit more talented than most handicap golfers! So open the face, yes, but I would much rather you then went straight back and through. 

Here, I’ll show you how to achieve greater consistency and offer some tips to help with the trickier lies you may encounter…

1. BALL POSITION

For me, it’s always on the left heel because it generally helps you to pop the ball up more easily when it’s forward in your stance, and the ball will land more softly too. Anything in the middle or towards the back will come out lower and with more forward drive, which is usually not what you want in a greenside bunker. If I did want to drive it forward more, I’d move the ball back just a fraction, but it wouldn’t be in the middle – it would be a very subtle change.

2. CONSISTENT POINT OF ENTRY

When I’m practising, I’ll draw a line in the sand with my club and try to hit that line, so my entry point is consistent. That guarantees the strike and you can then hit it low, play it high or whatever.