The green side bunker shot is one that strikes fear into the hearts of many amateur golfers (because they don’t want to hit two bunker shots in a row!), and to compound the annoyance of this shot, we hear on television that the tour players will actually aim for green side bunkers!  While this shot seems difficult, it is really a very simple shot to execute…and here is how.

The biggest problem I see when working with people on this shot is a scared or timid decelerating swing that stops in the sand and in turn leaves the ball in the sand.  The easiest way to avoid this is the keep the handle of the club moving through the golf shot.  When the handle stops and the hands flip at the ball we are usually standing on our right(back) leg and attempting to hit up on the ball and lift it out of the bunker-doesn’t work.

When setting up to hit a green side bunker shot favor more weight on your front foot and leave it there though the whole swing.  Swing the club steeply into the sand slightly behind the ball.  Now here comes the most important part…Keep the handle of the club moving until your right arm is at least parallel with the ground and your body is turned toward your target.  Remember, in all golf swings we want to make sure that our follow through is at least as long as our backswing (if not a little longer).

Once you have mastered these very basic components of the bunker shot you will not leave balls in the bunker any more and you can begin playing with how to hit it higher, lower, shorter, further, etc.