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EPIC BUNKER FAILS
By Glenn Deck, PGA
If you don’t like greenside bunkers and you’re trying to help the ball get up over the bunker lip, here’s a fix for you. The first step is to simplify your bunker setup and eliminate being too open in your stance or having the clubface too open. I want you to use your normal pitch shot except you’ll use the bounce in your clubhead and swing like your ball is in greenside rough.
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FIX #1: Set up so you’re aiming directly at the target and open the face so the bottom scoring lines aim at your left ankle to create a little bounce. Work your feet into the sand a half-inch so you have a shallow divot in the sand. Line up at your target and swing the club at your target to throw the sand on the green and forget about the open face! If you open your body and clubface too much, you’ll tend to swing the club back too far to the inside, creating a lot of problems. Instead, keep your focus on hitting a spot of sand two inches behind the ball and swing down and through. Too often, I see players open up their body too much to the left and open the face too much to the right, which makes the shot much more difficult. Instead, hit a "heavy pitch" and swing aggressively right at the target.
FIX #2: Change your distance thought; if you have a 15-yard bunker shot, you need a 45-yard swing. Yes, multiply the distance you need to hit by three to offset the cushion of sand between the clubface and ball. If you’re playing in a firm or wet bunker, double the distance; if you’re in soft powder sand, multiply the distance by four. Learn to make the practice swing outside the bunker before you walk into the bunker, so on most 20-yard bunker shots, make a 60-yard practice swing, then walk into the bunker, take your setup and go with the same feel.
| If you’re really serious about shooting some lower scores this year, ditch the practice tee once in a while and hone in on your short game. Even with good swing mechanics, and sometimes perfect execution, you’re going to find yourself missing a few (sometimes a lot of) greens. Factors such as club selection, weather, elevation changes or green layouts and pin placements all affect our ability to knock it stiff, even on days when everything feels just right.
This year, wedge customization is popular, and rightfully so. Getting the custom look, feel, bounce, loft, etc., is crucial for becoming more proficient with short shots. Have a look at some of our favorite wedges for 2014. |
| Total Versatility | ||
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Callaway Golf
Mack Daddy 2 Key Features: A versatile Tour-proven design that generates lots of spin. Aggressive, large grooves plus increased surface roughness help enhance spin. |
Cleveland Golf
588 RTX CB Key Features: Generates tight backspin due to the large U-shaped face grooves that are especially effective from rough, sand and wet grass. Surface roughness is laser-milled into the clubface in a pattern that also induces spin. The sole is wider near the heel, narrower near the toe, to improve bunker performance without sacrificing versatility. An undercut cavity promotes perimeter weighting for more forgiveness on off-center hits. |
Edel Golf
Signature Series Key Features: Each wedge in the series can be customized with a golfer’s preferred lofts, grinds, paint-fill colors and stampings. For added measure, even the shaft band sticker can be personalized. |
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Fourteen Golf
DJ-11 Key Features: The wide sole and semi-offset neck of this forged nickel-chrome molybdenum bronze clubhead help ease setting up at address. Its reverse-taper blade and wide sole mean fewer mis-hits. An indentation structure evenly distributes clubhead weight. Trapezoidal grooves translate to high spin. |
Hopkins Golf
CJ-1 Key Features: Made of soft carbon steel, these are raw so they’ll rust for even softer feel over time. Grooves plus a face-milled pattern maximize surface roughness for more spin. Six sole grinds are offered. Oh, and if it matters, Champions Tour players are eating them up. |
Miura
K-Grind Key Features: There are two new lofts (52_¡ and 60_¡) in addition to the original 56_¡. A distinctive fluted sole helps interaction with turf at impact, allowing it to be more versatile in more situations. |
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Mizuno
JPX Series |
Titleist by Vokey
WedgeWorks Key Features: These are custom wedges by renowned wedge maker Bob Vokey or one of his craftsmen, who will even laser-etch your name directly into the shaft. |
Bladed Wedge Shot |
| Feel & Forgiveness | ||
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Cobra Golf
Tour Trusty Key Features: A compact, non-offset shape, as well as two cut depths on the face, help max out surface roughness, while wide grooves enhance spin. Available in a matte satin or matte black PVD finish. |
Nike
VR X3X |
Orlimar
Tour Groove Key Features: Forged from soft carbon steel, it has a traditional teardrop shape, USGA-conforming grooves and a brushed satin finish that reduces glare. |
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Ping
Tour |
Ping
EYE2 XG Key Features: The beloved EYE2 wedge is still available (we can’t let it go, either), with conforming grooves and a precision-milled face. Ironically, this forgiving wedge is still being used by Tour players. |
Taylormade
Tour Preferred Key Features: Two sole options, including the ATV (All-Terrain Versatility) sole for…wait for it…more versatility! This allows for a variety of shots regardless of the course conditions and swing type. In a satin-chrome finish, mind you. It’s like a sports car with big, knobby tires that can handle all kinds of terrain. The microtexture face helps optimize spin and greenside performance. |
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Tour Edge
Exotics CD PROs |
Wilson Staff
FG Tour TC Black |
| Flop Shot Hitting a successful flop shot can sometimes be as gratifying as hitting a big drive or sinking a long putt. But many golfers are too reluctant to try one, thinking it’s a shot that only better players can execute.
The reality is, yes, a flop shot requires more touch than, say, a simple chip or pitch does. But it’s not impossible! The trick is employing a technique that I’ve seen many good players doing as of late. Before this, many golfers would attempt to hold the face open through the flop shot, hoping to slide the club precisely under the ball and hope to not hit it fat or thin. This technique has a lot of room for error, often resulting in more not-so-good shots than well-executed ones. So what’s the best way to do it? First, I want you to set up as you would a normal flop shot. Play the ball front-center in your stance, with the shaft vertical and your weight slightly favoring your left side. (This will steepen your swing for crisper contact.) Next, lay the face wide open behind the ball. From here, I don’t want you to try and keep the face open! Hit a normal shot, allowing the wrists to hinge and rotate going back, unhinge at impact, and, again, hinge and rotate through the followthrough. Because the clubface was laid considerably open at address, you allow the hands to rotate the clubface as you would with a normal shot and still expect the ball to have plenty of upward trajectory. As you practice this shot, it’s important to experiment with what setup face angle works best for you, and always remember to both rotate the body and accelerate through the shot. Any tentativeness when hitting flop shots will likely produce a bad result. |
| Total Forgiveness | |
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Black Magic Golf
Black Magic Wedge Key Features: A unique hybrid design–the hosel is attached to the clubhead body and not the clubface–that eliminates shanked shots and makes it a cinch to extricate the ball from the sand. No need to hit behind the ball and dig into the sand before the ball. |
Cleveland Golf
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