‘I can’t get out of bunkers’ so many golfers, old and new, say; and of course, having that idea in your head - there is no chance of the confidence needed to get out. With confidence, the really scary bunkers of Prestwick, Gullane and of course, St Andrews are, not quite such a nightmare. In fact, it is very satisfying to escape from them well [although we all know we should not be in them in the first place!]
At home I have some of a former County Coach’s diagrams of the ‘fried egg’ bunker mental image of play . The yolk is the ball, and the white is the ‘divot’ of sand underneath the ball, that you lifts up and ‘splash’ the ball over the edge of any bunker. The higher the edge, the harder you hit the divot, and out it pops. Mark McDermiad, one of Bob Jamieson's ‘boys’ who went to Wentworth to join Bernard Gallacher, preferred to play from bunkers than play a standard pitch. It is that easy! However I am here, diagrams are there, so I had to think on my spikes, so to speak, and remembered my own ‘new potatoes drill’ which reminds me each spring of a simple ‘get out’ technique. If I try and force my way through my solid clay soil, it is hot baths, Capsaicin cream and the physio table; but if I slice an inch or so of soil and get in a rhythm of getting right through it, just like clearing snow, it is [almost] a pleasant exercise in bunker head games. No pain, lots of gain.
The set up as ever is vital. For beginners, forget rules for the moment and draw a line in the sand aiming left of target, ground your club to practice, open the club face [as you were told not to do on the fairway!] now grip the club absolutely as usual. Never, ever just hold the club and turn your wrists to open the club. Line up along your line, clubfaceto pin, and this time the ball should be somewhere hearer your instep, because, quite simply, you are not going to hit the ball. Plant your feet nice and firmly into the sand - remember again the last thing you want to hit is the ball; you want to hit the sand just behind your left heel a. You are going to ‘shovel’ a slice of sand underneath the ball with this open club face and instead of thinking, ‘job done; aren’t I clever?’ you are then going to keep going and move that slice of sand all the way out of the bunker, taking the ball with it. In other words, ‘don’t quit!’ Easy.
line upIn the picture I had to lift a little more sand to keep the ball from falling off, but it demonstrates the point. Lift a wedge of sand and the ball comes with it. With practice you will find as you chop with your wrists a little more, then a little more again, you will get more control and height, but first get the idea of clipping that club underneath the ball.
shovel action
This is not the same as playing from a fairway bunker - a completely different animal - when you don’t want to take any sand at all; see last week!
The biggest hurdle is a hard wet bunker. Forget the fancy heavy soled sand wedges - they just bounce - and take a wedge and just play a pretty forceful chip cutting into the sand behind the ball. It is not a shot of beauty but it almost always does the trick of at least getting out. When I played seriously many moons ago, in the days of unwatered fairways, I carried an old-fashioned ‘blade’ wedge to chip off the tarmac fairways in summer. If I had played seriously in the past decade, I just might have had it around for those solid hard pan bunkers that are on over 90% of courses these days. More rain, heavier sand, and almost everyone pulling the sand outwards with rakes have made bunkers a bit harder to master.
Junior golf is going big time here in Lanzarote. Sergio Garcia and Laura Ochena has inspired the young ones. For a club fee of €150 the Juniors get lessons on Saturday included. The enthusiasm is the same as in Scotland, but I had not realised that I had probably coached, and been coached, more than 90% of the time, in full waterproofs. What a difference warm weather makes. Wearing shorts and polo shirts both pro and kids could see so much more of the swing action. Kids copy what adults do quite naturally and it is so much easier for them to see what you are doing, as well as to check a junior line up when they are minus an anorak! It was fascinating to watch them in the ‘no fear’ stage, pitching happily from very hard ground, untouched as yet, by the dreaded ‘s’ word.
