How to escape fairway bunkers

A lot of club golfers often struggle in fairway bunkers because they mess around with their technique too much and make it too similar to that needed to escape a greenside trap.

Therefore, they don’t generate the distance required. Escaping from the fairway bunker still has the same objective as doing so from the edge of the green, in that you want to get out safely, but you need to strike the ball first before the sand.

One important point to remember is that you will be far more unstable standing on the sand than if you were on the fairway, so you will not be able to generate the same clubhead speed.

That’s why you want to take at least an extra club or two to ensure that you can get the ball over the lip of the bunker. Cleanly striking the ball is the most important thing when playing out of these particular traps.

Two putting ‘quick fixes’

Struggling to hole out? Here are a couple of things to think about.

If the sole of the putter is not sitting flush to the ground and either the toe or the heel are up in the air, poor strikes and misses will inevitably result.

Also, dropping a ball from the bridge of your nose is the simplest way to determine how far away the ball should be from your feet, ensuring you’re neither too close nor too far away.

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Andy Carlton is the Head PGA professional at Paisley Golf Club. For lessons, call Andy on 0141 884 4114. Follow him on Twitter @PaisleyPro.