Enough is enough! That’s how I feel about my bunker play at the moment. I lose so many shots around the green because I either airmail the ball across the green or it takes me one, two, or sometimes three shots to get the ball out of the sand because more often than not I have a consistent problem of hitting the lip.
I’ve tried to resolve the issue on my own, you’d think I’d be able to after all the instruction shoots I’ve directed and articles I’ve pulled together over the years. Also, a good while ago I attended Dan Grieve’s short game school. Now, he’s a short game God and on that day, I was clipping the ball out of the sand beautifully, but not anymore! If I do, it’s more by luck than judgement.
I step into a bunker and go through a checklist - play it off the front foot, settle feet in the sand, weight slightly forward, don’t grip the club too tightly, make sure you hit the sand before the ball, don’t quit on the follow through….but somehow things must get scrambled along the way and a lack of confidence doesn’t help either.
“Why don’t you practice your bunker shots?”, I can hear you saying. I’ve done that as well, as we’re very fortunate at West Essex Golf Club to have a Trackman range and a great short game practice area. Yes, I did manage to hit some decent bunkers shots, which gave me some confidence, but the fundamental problems are clearly still there. I found that out last week when I played with three male colleagues at The Leatherhead Club, part of Golf Monthly’s autumn/winter testing day. To be honest, all these cigar moments are embarrassing!
So, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I can’t sort this out on my own. I’m going to book a bunker lesson so a coach can watch me closely and explain exactly where the problems lie. “You used to be really good out of bunkers,” people say to me. They mean well, but comments like that make it all the more frustrating!
I know I’m not alone, many women dread the thought of their ball landing in a bunker and funny enough, this week I was interested to find out the outcome of an Eleven Golf Sand Blaster test. This wedge is designed to be a failsafe club to help you to get out of the sand with ease every time. The marketing jargon even claims that it is virtually shank-proof. Now you’re talking!
Single figure golfer Carly Cummins joined two women to give it a go and you can read their thoughts in this article. I’m not sure it’s for me, I’d rather work on my technique and continue to use the wedges I have in my bag, but then again, at this point in time, I’m not sure I’d say no to anything!
By Alison Root, Women's Editor Golf Monthly.
