FACE
Grip and Club Face Position
The easiest way to grip the golf club and get the face in the correct position for successful bunker shots is to stand in the bunker and rest your club outside the bunker, as shown in Photo 3. Pay close attention to the club face so that it’s “open” or pointing to the sky, as the alignment rod shows in Photo 4. Then grip the golf club.
This is the first part of FACE, BASE and PACE.
Opening the clubface will expose the bounce on the wedge. (This is the FACE part of FACE/BASE/PACE.)
- Grip the top of the club (the handle). Tip: do not choke down on the grip, because your feet digging into the sand (the base part of FACE/BASE/PACE) will bring you closer to the ball, and remember, you want to hit under the ball, not the ball itself.
- Position the lead hand more “under” for a high, softer bunker shot
- Position the trail hand more on top of the club. This procedure will effectively open the clubface and increase the amount of loft and bounce on the wedge. The result is that you can now swing more aggressively through the sand during the shot.
