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6 Tips for Fairway Bunker Shots
Most average players hate hitting fairway bunker shots. They either hit it fat or top it. It seems hard to get good distance from fairway bunker.
But if you understand the basics, it doesn’t have to be this hard.
The key is in your set up.
Here is how you should set up for the shot.
1) Use 1 or two more club
From fairway bunker, you can't make bigger turn so expect the ball to travel less distance. Use at least 1 more club. But you don't want to use long irons. If you have to use anything more than 4 iron, use irons with more loft and lay up.
2) Dig your feet into the sand
Dig your feet slightly into the sand to ensure balance
3) Grip down a little
Grip down to compensate for digging your feet into the sand.
4) Position your ball a bit to the right
By positioning your ball a bit more right than normal will help hitting it clean off the sand.
5) Chin up
With a rounded back, it will be more difficult to turn. So make sure your back is nice and straight. Bent from the hips not from the waist.
When you have rounded back, your chin tends to drop. So pay attention to you chin.
6) Enough loft to clear the lip
When you are hitting fairway bunker shots, you need to make sure that the shot will clear the lip of the bunker.
To choose which club to use, lay your club on the ground and step on your clubface. The angle of the shaft is roughly equal to the angle of the shot that will come out of the sand.
Annika Sorenstam recommends this tip in her book, Golf Annika's Way.
Of course, you can't do this in a fairway bunker. So step outside the bunker and try it.