GOLF TIP by Bob Benning
PGA Golf Professional
Bob Benning School of Golf
Round Hill, Virginia
(703) 589-1443

"Try this only if your ball is sitting up on a clean lie"

You're in a bunker.

The ball is sitting up. There's a two foot bank 10 feet ahead of your ball. The green is 10 feet above you. But the big problem is, you're about 75 yards from the green.

What do you do?

First, eliminate the conventional, open-faced, blast shot from consideration. You'll have to take too hard a swing and almost no sand to come close to the green. Take the least bit of sand and you'll hit the ball only about 10 or 20 yards. Pick the ball clean and you'll skull it maybe to the putting surface, or more likely, way over the green.

Instead, try one of two methods:

1. Play the punch shot.
Using a pitching wedge or a nine-iron, position the ball back in your stance, opposite the right foot. Close the clubface slightly. On the backswing, break the wrists early, picking up the clubhead sharply. On the downswing, keep the wrists cocked and make sure you hit the back of the ball first, and then keep the clubhead driving into the sand. Keep your head steady. Your objective will not be to get under the ball, but rather to rap the back of the ball - just as though you're punching the ball under a low-hanging tree branch. You will swing with less force than you ordinarily would from that distance, because the shot will come out low and running.

2. Play a pick shot.
Using the pitching wedge, play the ball in the middle of your stance. Keeping the head very steady, take a firm swing and pick the ball cleanly off the top of the sand. Is it dangerous? You bet it is. Take the least bit of sand and you won't get halfway to the green; skull the ball and you'll either hit the lip of the bunker or sail it over the green. But it's worth a try.

The key factor in both methods though, is to KEEP THE HEAD STEADY until the ball is on it's way. There should be some body movement in either technique, but the head must not bob up or down nor move to either side during the swing.

Most people don't have a chance to practice this shot. But if you can find a place to experiment with it, the more confident you will be when you encounter one of these testers.