How to Clear a High Bunker Lip
Have you ever been unlucky enough to find yourself in this situation. You've hit a nice shot into the green but you didn't quite just make it over the lip. It's really not that difficult of a shot if you know the angles.
Why You Need to Open the Clubface
If you take your normal bunker setup with a slightly open clubface, it's not open enough to send the ball up over this lip. You'd hit the ball right into the bank.
- So you want to set the face wide open, you almost want to lay the club down in the bunker like that and that has enough loft to get it up over the edge.
- Second, you want to go ahead and swing right into the bank of that bunker, the club is going to stop right there on your follow-through.
How to Hit the Ball Out of a Bunker
Let's give it a try, notice how open I have the face and I'm going to chop the legs from right underneath it. That would be a great shot from here. Now my goal from this spot is just to get that ball out. If I can get it on the edge of the green like I did there that would be great.
But there is no way I can get it to the pin because of the angles since that ball has got to come out so high. It would be very difficult to hit it that far. Remember, when you're up against that lip, you need a clubface angle with a lot of loft to get the ball to go straight up in the air and go ahead and hit right into that bank. You'd be surprised of the results that you will get.