Bunkershot
A simple shot or a problemshot?
Answer: very easy

Many pros acctually prefere to play in the bunker rather than pitching around the green. Many people find this odd and wonder why anyone would chose sand over grass. Rule of thumb is that it's easier to stop the ball with a bunkershot than hitting a pitch onto a hard green, which usually the greens, especially on the US tour, are, since speed is more important than softness on many championships.

Bunkershots often end up resolving many championships. Remeber Greg Norman losing the Masters when Bobby Clampet made his bunkershot on the final hole?

When we took Sweden's first gold in the European Championship in Finland one of the final matches was settled with a bunkershot for a birdie on one of the final holes.

I'll try and explain in detail how you can benefit from bunkershots and look forward into hitting a bunker. We should become as good as Gary Player, Tiger Woods and Jesper Parnevik when it comes to bunkershots. Your attitude should always be that you can make the hole in 1 or 2 shots at most and not think about anything else. You'll soon see that this will happen the more you think about it.


More bunkers nowdays
That means that better bunkershots are needed for lower scores. Most courses built nowdays have far more bunkers than those built 10 or 20 years ago. It's basically easier to build bunkers and "waste bunkers" that allow the head to be grounded.

Bunkers also frames the course in a special kind of way that makes it more challenging, looks better, easier to maintain, drains better and doesn't need to be mowed.

Especially in the US are more bunkers built than ever before, mostly in Florida where the landscape is flatter. Although when I played on the Japanease tour in the early 90's there weren't as many bunkers which is obvious since most courses are built in the mountains due to lack of space.


Do the opposite
On a happy note exadurating the tips I'll give you will make you immidetly note a difference in your bunkergame. What you read will only be applicable on bunker-to-green shots and does not concern fairwaybunkers which are more like a regular shot.

Techically a bunkershot is the opposite to a regular shot. In a bunker you're not supposed to hit the ball, but swing through the sand and let the send throw the ball towards the hole.


Special design of the sandwedge. Why?
If you look at a sandwedge you'll find that it's built in a different manner than other clubs. It has a somewhat wider sole and a so called "bounce" that's a bit higher. The "bounce" is the rear part of the sole.

It's important to understand why the club is built this way so that we can use its design to your advantage.