Playing out of a *really* wet bunker.

[Bruce]

Playing on Saturday at The Dunes I found myself with a bunker shot I had no idea how to handle. I was in the back right bunker on the 4th and those that know it will know it is pretty deep. On this occasion though it was also really, really wet. Not hard packed wet, but squelchy and sloppy.

4 attempts later and I hadn't been able to get the ball higher than my waist (only about 6 feet short of getting over the lip) and picked up to move on to the next hole (don't ask how badly I ****ed up 5 either).

No other bunker that day was in that wet and I got out of the other 3 first time without problems. I'm still spewing about the 2 missed sand saves I should have got if my putting weren't so pathetic on the day.

So how do I deal with this sort of situation? There's still a few months of winter left and so similar situations are still on the cards.

[peter_rs]

if all fails go out backwards...

[poidda]

Move to Queensland!

[Bruce]

if all fails go out backwards...

Backwards from there goes down the hill into the shit. The next shot would be 60m forwards and 30m upwards from some heavy rough. I considered it - but thought the chances of playing from the same bunker for 4 were pretty high.

[Flowergirl]

What club were you using? Our bunkers can get very wet and heavy so I never use my sand wedge - too much bounce and the front edge seems to dig in. I get better results with my 60 lob wedge.
Don't know if this is right - but hey - someone will let me know if this is wrong:shock: ;)

[Chris32]

Last year I played in the rain, it was really coming down, casual water on every green etc etc..
I had a bunker shot that was in about 3 inches of water and slushy sand, ended up using a 8 iron and opened it up a little bit and played it level with my left foot. Really came down hard on the water/sand. I got it out, but never had another once since

[Courty]

This maybe a local rule, but up here we are allowed relief from water in bunkers. However, you are still required to play from the bunker (just not the bottom of a pool of water). Bunkers are hazards after all.

[PeteyD]

I think you are allowed releif from casual water in a bunker, but you must drop in the bunker -- can be scary. Or you can drop out of the bunker with 1 shot penalty.

Bruce's situation may not actually be casual water though.

[peter_rs]

your right peteyd

after 2 shots I would go out backwards and take my chances.

[Jarro]

I just really open up the clubface and commit to hitting down hard just behind the ball ... works for me, although our hard/wet bunkers are probably nowhere near as tough as yours :(

[Bruce]

A bump to see if Addam has any advice to add.

[Arnie K]

Putt it out the way it came in and chip over the hazard.:smt038

[Dennis]

A bump to see if Addam has any advice to add.

Hit it with topspin ;)

[virge666]

If I may offer an opinion.

Let's go to club design . . . and take two clubs. The LW and the SW. More importantly, when you purchase your set, I would suggest a SW with a lot of bounce and a LW with little bounce. Say 14 degrees for a SW and 6-8 degrees with a LW.

The bounce on the club - you can google it for a real definition . . . but lets just call it DIGGING and NON-DIGGING

LESS Bounce = More Digging
MORE Bounce = Less digging.

Right - with that knowledge in mind, let's go to part 2.

RULE # 1, 2 and 3 in a bunker... DON"T HIT THE BALL. Cannot strees that enough. If you hit the ball, you are either

a) Pummeling it into the wall of the bunker
b) Pummelling it into a mate next to the bunker
c) Pummeling the guys on the next tee.

So, we want to hit the ball FAT, about a inch fat to start with. This will create a "Wave" of sand for the ball to ride on.

So once again... we hit the sand which creates a wave of sand that propels the ball out. We DONT try and hit the ball.

So - part 3... What is the best way to create the "WAVE"

A couple of pointers.

a) Play the ball WAY forward in your stance. And I mean WAY FORWARD, remember, we are not trying to HIT the ball, we are trying to hit UNDER the ball and that is almost impossible if the ball is back or in the middle of your stance. not to mention trying to get any spin... Start with inside the front toe and hit an inch behind the ball. You can have an open or closed or square stance - they all produce different shots - up to you to experiment.

b) Get down LOW, widen your stance, dig in your feet. This is where you show the technique. Once you are low, open up the blade of the club depending on how high you wish to hit it. start with 30-40 degrees with a LW in a wet bunker.

c) Now swing and hit the ground an inch or two behind the ball. The club will scoot under the ball and the sand will propell the ball UPWARDS with spin.

d) Your chest and shoulders MUST be facing the target on the follow though. (Big one that one, watch your chopper mates never do that, head and shoulders still in the dirt, which is usually where the ball is. )

Now that we know all this, back to hard and soft sand. With soft sand - we don't need to dig the club under the ball. The sand is soft enough for this to happen, in fact we need to shallow out the shot and for this we have BOUNCE. So with soft sand, use your SW

With hard sand, a club with a lot of bounce will skid and not dig. So we cannot get UNDER the ball. So if you use your LW with less bouce - you can get under the ball and create the correct shot.

A couple of things to keep in mind . . .

1) The more you open the club . . . the more bounce you add to the club.
2) The lower you get - the deeper you dig.
3) The further forward you put the ball - the higher you hit it.
4) The closer to the ball you enter the sand the further the ball goes and the more spin you have.

Now it doesn't matter what kind of material you are hitting the ball out of - there is always a formula using the above that will get you out correctly.

For the wet sloppy mud you were talking about - you simply have to move the ball forward in you stance with a LW and hit it harder with a not so open clubface.

Enjoy.

[3oneday]

Opinion or a ****in novel ?

[virge666]

Opinion or a ****in novel ?

:lol::lol::lol:

Little bit of column "A" and a little bit of column "B"

I could have just said, open the clubface 20-30 degrees, ball off the front foot, get down low and swing harder, but then it would just be another "tip"

Hoping that an understanding of "Why" might help . . .

[3oneday]

then it would just be another "tip"Thanks Addam ;)

[Rusty]

why makes it easier for me to remember