Beginner golf tips 6 Aug 2026 9 min read

How To Get Out Of Bunkers First Time

If bunker shots make you feel like anything could happen, you are not alone. Most golfers who struggle from sand live between two misses: they hit too close to the ball and send it miles over the green, or they hit so far behind it that the ball barely moves.

That is why bunker shots can feel so awkward. The target might only be 15 or 20 yards away, but the swing you need can feel far bigger than your brain wants to allow.

The fix is not to guide the ball out. It is to build a setup that lets the club hit sand first, then trust that the sand and loft take the speed out of the shot.

Why Most Golfers Struggle To Get Out Of Bunkers

The first job is to understand the miss. If you are worried about thinning the ball over the green, your body will often try to protect you. You slow down, stop turning, and the club either crashes into the sand too early or catches too much ball.

That fear makes sense. A bunker shot looks short, but it is not a normal chip. If you set up with a narrow stance, your head and pressure well forward, and a small guiding motion, you are making it easier to hit a ball-first shot.

That is fine for some chips. It is not what you want for a standard greenside bunker shot.

The goal is not to pick the ball cleanly. The goal is to get the club entering the sand in a predictable place, let the sand lift the ball out, and keep the club travelling through.

If you fight fat or thin shots around the green, the same low-point awareness matters here. The difference is that in a bunker, you are deliberately using the sand.

Build A Bunker Setup That Lets You Hit Sand First

Before changing the swing, change the setup. This is where many golfers are a long way off without realizing it.

For a standard greenside bunker shot, start with these checkpoints:

1. Take a wider stance than feels normal.
2. Open the clubface before you complete your grip.
3. Keep a little pressure into the lead leg.
4. Play the ball forward enough that the club can enter the sand before the ball.
5. Let the clubface loft and bounce work through the sand.

That wider base gives you room to make a proper swing. It also helps you avoid the cramped, chip-shot setup that encourages you to jab at the ball.

One useful feel from Piers Ward’s coaching is that the stance can feel almost surprisingly wide at first. If it feels a bit strange, that is not automatically a problem. For many golfers, weird is correct because the old setup was forcing the wrong strike.

If you want more help with your wider short game setup, treat this bunker position as a specialist setup rather than a normal chip.

Use A Line In The Sand To Train Your Entry Point

The simplest bunker drill is also one of the best. Draw a line in the sand, place the ball slightly forward of that line, and make practice swings trying to strike the line.

You are training one question: where did the club enter the sand?

After each swing, look down. Did the club enter before the line, on the line, or after it? That feedback is immediate, and it removes guesswork from practice.

Do not panic if the strike is not perfect straight away. If the entry point is slightly early but the swing keeps travelling through, the ball can still come out. The bigger danger is usually entering early and then stopping.

That is why the line drill works: it gives you a clear contact target without making you obsessed with the golf ball.

Make A Longer Swing And Let The Sand Take The Speed Out

This is the part many golfers resist. The shot might only be 15 yards, but the bunker swing often needs to look and feel much longer than a 15-yard chip.

That does not mean you are trying to smash it. You are sending the club through the sand with enough speed for the sand to carry the ball out.

The open face and sand are going to take energy away. If you make a tiny swing because you are scared of hitting it too far, there may not be enough speed left to move the ball onto the green.

Think of it this way:

• The open clubface adds loft.
• The sand absorbs speed.
• The longer through-swing keeps the club moving.
• The ball rides out on the cushion of sand.

The feel is more like, make the swing and let the sand do its job, not guide the ball out with your hands.

Keep Moving Through The Shot Instead Of Falling Back

If your body falls back, the club is more likely to hit the sand too early. That is when the ball stays in the bunker or only just creeps out.

A simple drill is to rehearse the shot with the trail heel raised. For a right-handed golfer, that means the right heel is up. For a left-handed golfer, it is the left heel.

The purpose is not to pose on one foot. It is to help your pressure keep moving forward so the club can enter the sand closer to the intended point.

Use this with the line drill:

1. Set up wide.
2. Open the face.
3. Raise the trail heel slightly.
4. Swing through and clip the line.
5. Check the sand mark.

If the club starts finding the same area of sand more often, your bunker shots will start feeling less random.

How To Add Height And Stop The Ball Quicker

Once you can get the ball out, then you can start adding more control.

For a higher, softer bunker shot, you generally need more loft. That means opening the face more, and often lowering the handle slightly so the loft points closer to the target rather than too far right.

The key is speed, not force. A very open face takes even more energy out of the shot, so you may need the club to move faster through the sand. That is different from hitting harder with tension.

If you are newer to bunker shots, do this in order:

1. Learn to get the ball out first.
2. Train a predictable entry point.
3. Keep the through-swing moving.
4. Then experiment with more loft, lower handle, and more speed.

Trying to play high-spin, tour-style bunker shots before you can escape the sand is the wrong priority. Build the reliable shot first, then add the options for different short-game shots.

Your Simple Bunker Shot Checklist

Here is the bunker checklist to take into practice:

• Wider stance than a normal chip.
• Clubface open before you grip.
• Ball slightly forward.
• A little pressure into the lead leg.
• Clear sand-entry point.
• Long enough swing back and through.
• Trail side keeps moving through the shot.
• Trust that the sand and loft take the speed out.

Tyson’s confidence improved because the shot started to make sense. He was not guessing anymore. He had a setup, a contact point, and a swing that kept moving.

That is the goal for your bunker practice too. Do not start by chasing perfect spin. Start by making the shot predictable enough that you believe the ball is coming out.

FAQs

Where should I hit the sand on a bunker shot?

For a standard greenside bunker shot, aim to enter the sand slightly before the ball. The exact amount changes with lie, sand texture, and shot type, but the key is to train a repeatable entry point. Drawing a line in the sand gives you instant feedback.

Should I open the clubface in a bunker?

For this type of greenside bunker shot, yes. An open face adds loft and helps the club use the bounce through the sand. Open the face before you grip, then keep enough speed through the shot.

Why do I leave bunker shots in the sand?

You may be hitting too far behind the ball, setting up too narrow, falling back, or quitting on the follow-through. A wider stance, clear sand-entry point, and longer swing through the sand can help.

Why do I thin bunker shots over the green?

Thin bunker shots often happen when you are scared of leaving it short and accidentally catch too much ball. A better setup lets you hit sand first, so the ball comes out on a cushion rather than being picked clean.

How do I stop bunker shots quicker?

First, get the ball out consistently. Then add more loft by opening the face, lower the handle where needed, and use more speed through the sand. More height and better contact can help the ball stop faster, but control comes after consistency.