Doing some experimenting "in the beach" yesterday. I was working with wet hard sand bunkers that resembled a hard pack sand like your see near the ocean. Water level not beach level.
This shot worked the best, it was posted in another thread but bears repeating in this one also:
Opposite hand releases - this shot came from a Jack Nicklaus "Golf MY Way" video from the 1980's, The Golf Machine by Homer Kelly and GolfBald research. I was looking for a way to get a high lofter that stops dead on the pin with absolute minimum roll from a flat lie. I in hard packed wet sand that resembles water front beach sand. Here's how it goes. Grip is important in this shot. Strong right hand, weak left hand. I use a double overlap grip to get more clubhead speed. The stance should be square to the target. Posture more upright than normal, try to get the club swinging about 4 - 6 inches from your toes no more. Do not open the club!!! Play the ball n the middle of your stance. The swing is no weight tranfer, weight in the middle through the swing. Allow your arms to swing in front of your body on the shoulder line. With the crossed grip it will hinge off the ball and snap through at the bottom. Almost a perfect V. Work your practice swing to get the swing speed up. Adjust distance by changing
clubs not the swing. The shot will come off very high and stop dead. Try to pick the ball off the sand. The ball will come out high enough to clear a bunker and land soft.
GolfBald