Golf lessons are constantly evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new Timeless Tips series, we highlight some of the best advice teachers and players have shared in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we have a fairway bunker tip from Gary Player from our June 1971 issue.
Fairway bunkers are scary hazards. With deep valleys and high lips, reaching the green feels almost impossible. Heck, sometimes you just get it out feels like a victory.
When you are in the fairway bunker you have to be extremely accurate. If your contact is anything but perfect, the ball won’t respond the way you want it to. It’s a shot that most recreational players have no idea how to hit. They just wave and hope.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With a few technical adjustments, you can hit fairway bunker shots that will make your playing partners swoon.
In the text below we have excerpted an article from the June 1971 issue GOLF Magazine in which Gary Player shares his best advice for hitting from a fairway bunker. Follow it and your struggles from the sand traps along the fairway will be a thing of the past.
Fairway bunker advice from Gary Player
I’ve seen people enter the fairway bunker like they’re stepping into a snake pit, swinging so fast that the club resembles a propeller at full speed, and once they get the ball out, run after it like they’re escaping a forest fire. There doesn’t need to be such fear.
The key to the recording is the word ‘fairway’. When faced with a medium or long iron from a bunker, the shot should be played almost exactly as it would from mown grass. The ball must be hit first and then the divot. Repeat: The ball must be hit first!
To support this, I make some compensation in my mental approach to the recording that might be helpful. I look at the front of the ball instead of the back, thinking that if I make a mistake, it is better to hit it thinly rather than catch sand before making contact with the ball.
Now let’s look at the details of the stroke.
Address
As with any recording, the setup is very important. However, some extra care is required here because the surface is different from the one you normally have on grass. Because you are dealing with loose material, dig in firmly to avoid body sway. You can do this by rotating the feet after determining their placement. I prefer the inside of the right foot to secure the entire right side. Because you will be hitting the full shot as you would from the fairway, the ball should be played slightly left of center, with the hands in front of the club head. The weight should be mainly on the left side. However, you don’t have to overdo this. The phrase to keep in mind is: “Be natural.”
Takeaway meals
The backswing should occur in the conventional plane, but you should avoid excessive weight transfer to the right side. Make sure to fully expand the club on the way back. The twist should occur primarily at the hips, but be careful not to pull your feet too much from their implanted position. On top, the club is in the correct horizontal position.
You don’t need to overswing on this shot because if you make good contact with the ball, it will travel as far as it would from the fairway grass. To make sure I have completed the backswing, and to avoid rushing out of fear, I feel my hands fully tense at the top of the swing.
Downturn
The motion back to the ball is the same pulling action you use on all shots, keeping the hands cocked and the club head behind. There has been a marked movement to the left side, developed by pushing the right knee significantly to the left.
The ball is hit first and then the “divot” is taken from the sand. Notice that the head is stuck where the ball had been, and my weight is very much to the left. However, there has been no body swing as my left foot is still firmly planted in the sand. Playing the ball from a conventional position relative to the feet allows the club to move towards the target with ease. Only after the ball is well on its way to the green does the right hand begin to turn. My head only comes up to track the flight of the ball after the tracking is almost complete.
How to practice
Just before the 1959 British Open I had serious doubts about my ability to even compete. It seemed that during the practice rounds I was hitting every other shot ‘heavy’ and couldn’t get anywhere from the treacherous fairway bunkers at Muirfield, Scotland. I spent an evening taking practice shots out of the sand on a nearby beach and quickly taught myself to catch the ball first, not only out of the sand, but also in the fairway.
What I did was draw a line in the sand, place the back of the ball on the line and then shoot. If the contact was made correctly, the line would still be there after the ball sailed down the beach. This little tip helped me regain my confidence, and I not only completed the event, but won it.
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