Conquer the Bunker
Many golfers fear greenside bunkers, but you just need a system. Try the 2, 2 rule: 2 inches behind, 2 inches down.
Dig your feet into the sand for stability, lean your weight towards the target, and focus on splashing the sand —not the ball. The sand carries the ball onto the green. If you visualize and practice striking the sand 2 inches behind the ball, and hitting 2 inches down into the sand, you will have much better luck next time you are faced with this shot.
Pro Tip: Let’s use this diagram to visualize and evaluate our practice next time we are out there – a nice divot size will be 6 inches in total length – 2 inches behind the ball, and 4 inches after – with an overall depth of 1 to 2 inches deep. If we take more sand than this, it can become difficult to get the ball out.
Drill: One of my favorite drills is taking my club or the rake and drawing a straight line in the sand about 4 feet in length. I then practice my 2×2 method using the line as the indication of where the ball would be. After each swing I can take a look at where my divot starts and ends and how deep it is, and make an adjustment before my next swing. Easier to practice with the line than the ball until we feel comfortable.
