Out of the bunker: the rules, the shot and why it is missing from a simulator

The bunker is where beginners lose the most strokes and practise the least. There are two reasons: the rules are stricter there than anywhere else, and the technique is the only one in golf where you deliberately do not hit the ball. Here are both, plus the course-permit target and the reason no simulator bay helps with it.

What you may not do in a bunker

Before the stroke you may not touch the sand right in front of or behind the ball with your club, take a practice swing in the sand, or touch the sand on the backswing (R&A, Rule 12.2). The reason is simple: each of those would tell you how firm the sand is, and finding that out is what the stroke itself is for.

More is allowed than people think. You may dig your feet in for a firm stance. You may remove loose impediments such as leaves and stones, in a bunker too since 2019. You may touch the sand with a hand or a foot as long as you are not testing its condition. And you may lean on a club while walking.

When the ball is unplayable

In a bunker you have four options instead of three (R&A, Rule 19). Three of them cost one penalty stroke and stay in the bunker: back to where you last played, on the line from the hole going back within the bunker, or laterally within two club lengths.

The fourth is the important one: for two penalty strokes you may drop on the line behind, outside the bunker. Anyone stuck in sand with no clean shot buys their way out with it and often saves more than the two strokes cost. The arithmetic is simple: two attempts in the sand are worse than a drop and a pitch.

The shot in three sentences

Out of sand you do not hit the ball but the sand beneath it, starting about a hand's width behind. For that you open the face, stand slightly open and dig your feet in, which lowers you and helps the club get under the ball.

The most common mistake is too little swing: because the sand brakes the club, a bunker shot from ten metres needs more movement than a pitch from twenty. The second most common is decelerating after impact. Both disappear with a single lesson and twenty balls in a practice bunker.

Wet sand, dry sand

After rain the sand is firm, the club bounces less and the ball comes out lower and further. Then you open the face less and swing shorter. In dry, deep sand it is the other way round: more open, more swing, more sand.

That is the real reason the bunker shot needs experience and why nobody learns it from a video: the lie changes with the weather, and you have to see it before you choose the club.

The course-permit target

On the practice ground, Swiss Golf's regulation asks for six balls from the sand, two of which have to stay on the green (Swiss Golf). That is a reachable hurdle, and it is the only one of the six disciplines you cannot prepare for in a bay.

The other five are tee shots over 80 metres for men and 70 for women, long game over 60 metres, pitching into a six-metre circle, chipping into a four-metre circle, and nine putts in 21 strokes at most. Four of those appear on any launch monitor; the rest belong on a practice facility. The procedure is in The Swiss course permit.

Why no bay has sand

Because sand ruins everything in a simulator room: the mat, the measuring device, the screen and the floor. The software can show a bunker and compute the shot with reduced ball speed, but you are still hitting off a mat the club does not dig into.

That is one of the honest limits of indoor golf, along with rough and slopes. How far the numbers carry otherwise is in Simulator score against course score.

Where to practise bunkers

At a practice facility with a practice bunker, and almost every golf course has one. Twenty balls per visit is enough, and two visits cover the exam. If you train over the winter, add two afternoons in March before the season starts.

A second address is short courses: the 9-hole par 3 at Golfpark Holzhausern is CHF 35, and a follow-up round CHF 27. There you play bunkers, chips and putts in their natural order rather than as a drill.

When the ball has vanished into the sand

A ball lying wholly or partly in sand may be uncovered to identify it: you may remove as much sand as needed to recognise it, must then restore the lie, and may leave a small part of the ball visible (R&A, Rule 7.1b).

This is the rule most often played wrongly, because many believe you may never touch the ball in a bunker. Searching and identifying are allowed; improving the lie is not.

A fairway bunker is a different shot

In a fairway bunker you want to hit the ball and not the sand. Take one more club, shorten the swing slightly, keep the face neutral and dig your feet in only deep enough to stand stable. The ball should come out low, not high.

The most common bad decision is the club: take a 7 iron from 140 metres because it fits on the fairway and you catch the sand. Out of sand the lip matters more than the distance, and the first aim is out rather than on the green.

The long bunker shot around the green

Twenty to thirty metres out of sand is the hardest shot in golf, because neither the full bunker shot nor a pitch works. The simplest solution is a club with less loft, say a 9 iron instead of the sand wedge, with the same technique as a short bunker shot.

The sand brakes the club just the same, but the flatter loft carries further. Ten balls with the sand wedge and ten with the 9 iron from the same lie show the difference in ten minutes, and after that you have a decision rather than a hope.

More on this: Unplayable ball in golf, Dropping a ball in golf.

The etiquette that goes with it

Enter the bunker at its flattest point, not over the face. Rake it after your shot so that no footprints remain. Put the rake where the course wants it; that is on the noticeboard and differs from club to club.

Care of the course is part of Rule 1.2 and is expressly assessed in the course-permit exam. Anyone raking after themselves does it not for the exam but for the group behind.

Frequently asked questions

May I touch the sand in a bunker?

Not with the club right in front of or behind the ball, not in a practice swing and not on the backswing. Digging your feet in, removing leaves and stones and touching the sand with a hand or foot are allowed, as long as you are not testing its condition.

What does an unplayable ball in a bunker cost?

One penalty stroke if you stay in the bunker, and two if you drop on the line behind, outside it. The second is worth it whenever the alternative would be two or three attempts in the sand.

What does the course permit require in a bunker?

Six balls from the sand, two of which have to stay on the green. It is one of the six disciplines on the practice ground and the only one you cannot prepare for in a simulator bay.

Why is there no bunker in a golf simulator?

Because sand damages the mat, the measuring device and the screen. The software can show a bunker lie and reduce ball speed, but you are hitting off a mat the club does not dig into. Sand, rough and slopes are the three limits of indoor golf.

How do I practise bunker shots in winter?

Not indoors; instead, two March afternoons at a practice facility with a practice bunker. Twenty balls a visit is enough. Alternatively a short course: the 9-hole par 3 at Holzhausern is CHF 35 and gives you bunkers, chips and putts in their natural order.

Sources

• R&A: Rules of Golf, Regel 12 (Bunker)
• R&A: Rules of Golf, Regel 19 (unspielbarer Ball)
• Swiss Golf: Reglement Platzreife (PDF) (zwei von sechs Bällen aus dem Sand aufs Grün)
• R&A: Rules of Golf, Regel 7.1b (Suche im Sand) (Lage wiederherstellen, ein Teil des Balls darf sichtbar bleiben)