wet sand

I had a good round almost spoiled, yesterday, by my inability to make a half decent shot out of greenside bunkers with the wet compacted sand in them.

Unfortunately, the course where I play uses a really low grade coarse sand, which is more suited to laying paving slabs than bunker filling!!!

I don't have a problem getting out when the sand is dry but, everything I tried, yesterday, ended up with the ball staying in the bunker or getting launched many yards over the green. I used the sand wedge and on one occasion the lob wedge, which has almost zero bounce. All with equal degrees of ineptness.

Can anybody give me the technique for getting out of this stuff please? I repeat; this is not the sand you find on a championship course.

Thanks

You need the chunk and run.

Forget opening the clubface - we need all the digging power possible.

Let the loft of the club dictate how far you need to go (close pin use your 60, far pin use your GW or PW)

Hit the sand like you would for a standard blast shot, but let the blade dig. Swing normally (like you would from the grass) with a half shot motion.

The ball comes out with no spin (hence the run part), but does come out.

The other option, if the sand is really firm and wet and the ball is just sitting on top, is to pick it cleanly. The only downside to this is that if you're the tiniest bit fat, you'll end up trying another bunker shot.

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2 ways i hit out of hard bunkers...

use your lob wedge and really hit down behind the ball hard to get the clubface into the sand.

or,

use your lob wedge and play a shot like u are hitting off fairway grass.. you know the club won't dig into the sand, so try hitting it like a normal short high chip. don't take any of the sand until after you've hit the ball.

expect the ball to run... it won't spin.

AGB does what I do to get out of compacted sand with his two examples. A way to practice this shot is to hit off a board which is essentially the same as a thin lie. Hit the ball first, then the board. Hitting the ball first is the easy part. Controlling distance is the tougher of the two.

Traveling as much as I do I see alot of different types of sand. The compacted, hardpan stuff I sometimes have to play out of is always a tough shot. Especially when playing out of a green side bunker where distance is critical. GJS

Thanks for the replies and helpful suggestions.

LP42; do I play the ball forward in my stance for the "chunk and run" or, should I move it back a bit? On dry sand, faced with a plugged lie, I play the ball slightly further back. Perhaps, only a ball's width.

Stance and set-up seem to be very important with this shot.

I play it where I normally play a sand shot - it's essentially the same shot but with a square face versus open. I may move it back a half to full ball depending on how much digging I need to do - the harder the sand, the more back I move it (to get closer to the ball). I suppose you could leave the ball like in a normal sand shot and simply hit closer to it...

This video illustrates what LowPost is saying about squaring the club and digging behind the ball in hard bunkers. You don't want to open the club face because the bounce of the sand wedge will get you in trouble.

Jambalaya; thanks for the YouTube link. Very helpful.

Wet or hard packed bunkers are common over here in Thailand, during the rainy season.
I usually play them with a 9 iron etc. which has less bounce to it, and slightly keep the head a little more closed then normal, to help from sliding on the hard pack. It takes a little practice to utilize your swing to get a good action out of the green side bunkers. Fairway bunkers, who cares, just blast the ball out without hitting the sand as usual.
This is only my thoughts, good luck.

Depending on the nature of the situation, you may find putting isn't as crazy as it sounds - it depends on where the ball is in the bunker, and whether it's deep or not...

For wet or compact sand, also for the buried ball try closing the clubface, playing the ball back in the stance, aiming off a little right and hitting steeply just behind the ball with a full swing. The ball will roll a little further than a splash shot but will come out well.