Does this look and sound familiar? I've pulled my tee shot left and it landed in a fairway bunker. What I'm I going to do? For starters, don't panic. You've got a good lie with no lip in front of you. It's a clear shot to the green only about 150-yards away.
We know in a greenside bunker we want to hit the sand first. But this is a fairway bunker. So what can we do to guarantee that the ball is the first thing that we hit?
First, we move the ball back in our stance approximately an inch to two inches. Take your normal stance with the ball off your left heel and then shuffle forward until the ball is very near the middle of your stance. From there just make your normal swing.
However, if you're playing in softer sand and your feet have a tendency to sink in, then there is one more thing you must do. You must reduce the length of the club for the amount of distance that your feet sink into the sand. If your feet are an inch into the sand, then we choke down on the grip by an inch to counteract the difference. Now you're ready to give it a go in softer sand just swing away!
Now, let's see what we should do if there is a lip in front of us....
I'm in a fairway bunker with a lip in front of me, what do I do now? You must make it your first priority to get the ball up and over the lip of the bunker. We don't want to be stuck in this lip making sand castles for the rest of the day.
On a basic fairway bunker shot, we would put the ball back in our stance to guarantee that we hit the ball first. Well, this time I'm going to contradict that and say that we must make sure that we get the ball up first. So, we have to take the risk of actually hitting some sand if we make a mistake.
So now I'll actually move the ball further up in my stance, nearly opposite of my left heel. Because I'm doing that there is an element of risk that I am going to hit the sand first. So, with the ball further forward in my stance, it's an inch further forward that it actually was. Once again, I'll choke down on my grip a little bit because my feet are down in the sand. I'm going to try to stay very still with my lower body and I want to catch the ball, if anything, a little bit on the upswing. I want to make sure that ball gets up into the air. I want to keep my weight very still. I don't want my weight to be moving forward very much. I want to get the ball up in the air. Cross your fingers and give it a go!
So remember, on a basic fairway bunker shot place the ball further back in your stance. A fairway bunker shot with a lip in front of you, move the ball further forward in your stance. If your feet sink into the ground, choke down. Do that and fairway bunkers won't scare you anymore!