Bad Bunker Lies

Video Transcript

Wow, I guess I am in Dan's footprint here who was in the group in front of me. Somebody forgot to rake the bunker. Boy, sometimes we get faced with these lies on the golf course and there is really no way around them, they are just a tough shot. The important thing to realize is that when you are in a footprint or any kind of lie like that the main thing is realize what is possible based on what kind of shot you are trying to hit and then realize what you can do and just try to get the ball out. Obviously when it is sitting down in a lie like this it is not going to have very much spin because I can not go in and get the club to work through nicely, it is not sitting up nicely, it is not going to come out with a lot of spin where I can control what is going to happen. The ball is going to come out with a lot of over spin. Anytime the lie is bad in a bunker it is most likely going to come out with over spin, so try to predict that with the shot you are trying to play. Try to aim for a part of the green that has more depth or more area that you can roll the ball in and it can still stay in a reasonable area to make your next shot the easiest. So when it is in a lie like this the main thing you want to do is make sure you strike down on the shot and get underneath the ball. You have to get this wedge underneath the lowest point of the ball and that means you are going to have to dig a little bit. Standing there with a normal stance and an open face where the club wants to bounce and skid and get through the sand is not going to work here. We have to dig into it a little bit. I still want to keep my weight on the left hand side. I always want to be open with these shorter shots, I never want to have my shoulders, hips, anything aiming at the target or to the right, I always want to have it just a little bit left. The last thing is we want to keep that face shut. The face should be a little bit closed is going to help dig through the sand a little more and help get the ball out of this lie. Like I said we are just trying to do the best we can here. Face is a little bit closed, weight is on the left hand side and let's just get it out. So when you are in a bad lie realize that you can not do much with the ball, keep the face a little bit closed and dig. Try to get that club below the bottom level of the ball and get that sand to throw the ball out of there on to the green. Most importantly though, try to play to a spot that you can make your next shot the easiest from because it is very hard to get these close to the hole. When you are in a bad bunker lie keep it simple. Get it out, play it from there and play the next one.