The day was bright and fine. Salt had been away from the course in the morning, but was back on the range in the afternoon.
His mission today was to help people with their golf sand shot. He knew that most beginners had a lot of trouble with the golf bunker shot and wanted to help. It’s a shame, he thought. The golf bunker shot is actually one of the easiest shots to learn.
Then he noticed a woman across the way, hitting sand shots out of the practice bunker.
He walked over to see how it was going.
“Hello Ma’am,” said Salt.
“Oh, Hello. You must be Salt. I’ve heard of you,” she said. “My name is Jane.”
“Hello Jane. How’s the sand game treating you today?”
“Not very well. I hit a good shot once in a while, but then I go and leave the ball in the bunker. It’s very frustrating.”
“I’m sure,” said Salt. “Mind if I have a look?”.
“Would you? Thank you so much,” said Jane.
Salt watched Jane hit a few shots. The lip of the bunker was fairly high. About half of her shots did not make it over the lip.
“What do you think Salt? Is my grip OK? Maybe I’m not setting my hands right? Would you check my grip pressure?”
Salt paused for a moment.
“Jane, would you try something for me please?”
“Sure.”
For a Sweet Golf Bunker Shot, Put Sand On the Green
Henrik Stenson puts both sand and the ball on the green with his golf bunker shot.
“What? I want the ball on the green, not the sand.”
“Yes, of course. But if you put sand on the green, I’m pretty sure that your ball will be on the green too. Just take a few practice swings without the ball to try it out.”
Jane remembered watching a PGA tour event in person. The pros spent a lot of time in the bunkers around the green. By early afternoon there was more sand out of the bunkers than in them. She recalled watching Henrik Stenson practice his greenside bunker golf sand shots. He put a lot of sand on the green. She didn’t think much of it at the time.
Attack the Sand and Hit it Hard for Good Bunker Golf
Her first swings were too timid, without the needed acceleration and high finish to make it through the sand and launch the ball where it needed to go. But she eventually dug into the sand, got a solid base, drove through the sand with her big muscles, and was putting sand on the green every time. It seemed odd to swing so hard for such a short shot. She remained quite dubious.
“Perfect. Now hit a ball. Or rather, the sand behind the ball. Remember, you are trying to move the sand.”
Jane did. To her amazement the ball came out high and soft, landing on the green. It was probably the best bunker shot she had ever hit, she thought.
“Wow, did you see that? Salt, it worked! Let me try this again…”
Salt waved to her as he walked back to the range. “Keep after it Jane,” he said.
Salt had seen a long long hitter on the range that had piqued his curiosity and was ambling off to see if he was a serious player or not…
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