A ball that finishes in a greenside bunker with vrey little green between it and the flag can make even a decent round feel shaky. The answer is not usually a miracle shot. It is a reliable splash that gets the ball out,lands it in the right area,and leaves a putt you can handle. This short-sided bunker drill is built around that simple idea.
play for the putt, not the miracle
When you are short-sided, the flag can be a poor target. rather, pick a landing spot a few feet onto the green and think about where the ball will finish from there. If there is plenty of green beyond the hole, it may be smarter to aim away from the cup and leave yourself an uphill putt than to try to stop the ball beside a tucked pin.
For a standard greenside splash,use a sand wedge or lob wedge and open the clubface before taking your grip. For a right-handed golfer, the face will point a little right of the target while the feet and shoulders sit slightly left.Play the ball forward of center, keep light flex in the kneesand favour the lead foot without leaning excessively onto it. The club should enter the sand roughly one to two inches behind the ball. The sand carries the ball out; you are not trying to pick the ball cleanly.
That distinction matters.Golfers often leave these shots in the bunker because thay try to scoop the ball into the air or slow the club at impact. Make a controlled backswing, allow the wrists to hinge naturallyand keep turning your chest thru the shot. It should feel like a committed splash through the sand, not a cautious jab at the ball.
Remember the rules, too. Before making the stroke, do not deliberately touch the sand instantly in front of or behind the ball with your club. Make rehearsal swings beside the ball, outside the bunkeror just above the sand rather than grounding the club behind it.
Use the bounce
An open clubface exposes the bounce on the bottom of the wedge. That bounce helps the club skim through the sand instead of digging sharply with the leading edge. For a very short shot, a 58- or 60-degree wedge can definitely help produce a higher flight, but the technique matters more than the number stamped on the sole.
Set up with the face open,ball slightly forward,and enough pressure on the front foot to keep your strike consistent. Then swing through along your body line. You do not need to force a huge follow-through, but you do need to keep the club moving. A decelerating swing tends to leave too much sand behind the ball.A square or closed face can turn the shot into a low runner that comes out hot and releases far beyond the hole.
Sand conditions change the shot. In soft, fluffy sand, keep the face open and expect to make a fuller swing because the club will move through more sand. In wet or compacted sand, the club tends to slide less easily, so a slightly squarer face and a more assertive swing can be useful. A plugged lie is different again: the safest option is frequently enough a more square-faced, steeper explosion shot intended simply to get the ball back onto the green.
Do not judge every bunker shot by whether it finishes tap-in close. From a difficult lie with a tucked pin, getting out cleanly and leaving a makeable putt is often excellent course management.
Practice the landing spot
The best bunker practice has a clear target. Rather than hitting ball after ball toward a flag, choose the spot where you want the ball to land. Put down a towel or mark a small circle on the green a few feet beyond the bunker edge. The hole is still relevant,of course,but the landing spot is what gives you control over height,spin,and release.
Start with a line in smooth practice sand. Make a few swings without a ball and try to enter the sand just beyond the line, creating a shallow divot rather than a deep trench. Once that feels consistent, place balls just ahead of the line and hit them toward the landing target. The goal is to repeat the same sand entry point while learning how far the ball carries and releases.
This is where the short-sided bunker drill becomes especially useful. Hit small sets of five balls from the same lie. First, focus only on getting every ball out of the bunker. Then narrow your focus: can you land most of them in the target area? pay attention to where they finish and whether the result would leave a cozy first putt.
If you are catching shots thin, keep the face open and feel the sole brushing through the sand. If the ball stays in the bunker, keep your speed through impact and avoid driving the handle too far ahead of the clubhead. If shots are coming out with too much release, add loft by opening the face slightly more and move the landing point closer to the front of the green.
Take the same plan to the course
Before stepping into the bunker, read the shot from the hole back to the ball. Where can the ball land? How much room is available for it to release? Which side of the hole gives you the easiest next putt? Those questions are more useful than staring at the flag and hoping to hit the perfect spinner.
On a severe short-sided lie, accept that a six-foot putt may be a good outcome. picture the landing area, the first bounce, and the likely release. Then commit to one motion. Higher-handicap golfers should make escaping the bunker their first goal; as confidence improves, they can gradually make the landing window smaller. Better players can add variety by changing the lie, altering the landing spotor practising from slopes.
A difficult bunker shot does not have to lead to a big number. Pick a sensible landing spot, use the bounce, and make a committed splash. Do that often enough in practice,and the next time you are short-sided,the bunker will feel less like trouble and more like a chance to save par with a solid putt.
