Golf Glossary
Bunker Shot
In short
A bunker shot is a stroke played from a bunker, a sand-filled hollow, usually a greenside bunker next to the green. You do not hit the ball itself but the sand a few centimetres behind it. The sand lifts the ball up and out of the bunker. With a sand wedge and a little practice it is very learnable.
Bunker shot in golf: what happens?
A bunker is a sand-filled hollow laid out deliberately as a challenge. In the Rules of Golf it is one of the five defined areas of the course. Most often bunkers sit right beside the green. There you play the classic bunker shot, also called an explosion shot. The name fits because the sand sprays upward as if in a small explosion.
The special feature: your club meets the sand behind the ball first. The club glides underneath the ball and pushes a cushion of sand forward. The ball rides out of the bunker on that cushion. Because sand sits between clubface and ball, the ball usually picks up less backspin than with a clean pitch. It flies high, lands softly and still rolls out a little.
Beginners often fear the bunker. In fact the bunker shot is one of the techniques you can learn by following a clear pattern. Once you know the sequence and have practised a few times, you will usually get onto the green reliably.
How to play the bunker shot step by step
These steps apply to a greenside bunker where the ball sits cleanly on the sand.
- Club: take the sand wedge. It has plenty of loft and a sole that glides over the sand.
- Clubface: open the face before you take your grip. For a right-hander it then points to the right of the target. This adds loft and lets the sole glide.
- Stance: dig your feet slightly into the sand. The stance is open, meaning your feet point a little left of the target. More weight sits on the front foot.
- Ball position: the ball sits well forward in the stance, around the front heel.
- Contact point: as a guide, aim at a spot in the sand about three to five centimetres behind the ball.
- Swing: swing fully through, with more speed than a normal chip. The swing ends in a high, complete finish.
The most common thought is to lift the ball. That is not necessary. The loft of the club and the sand cushion do it for you.
Why it works: sole, bounce and sand cushion
The key to the bunker shot is the sole of the club. On a sand wedge its trailing edge sits lower than the leading edge. The resulting angle is called bounce. It stops the club digging in and lets it glide flat under the ball.
When you open the clubface, the sole turns downward and the bounce becomes even more effective. So the softer and looser the sand, the more you can open the face and the more safely the club glides. On firm, wet sand the bounce works less well. There it pays to enter the sand a little more steeply with a less open face.
You control distance through the length of the swing, not through speed. A half swing carries the ball only a few metres, a full swing noticeably further. The point where you enter the sand matters too: entering further behind the ball takes more sand and gives a shorter shot, entering closer to the ball gives a slightly longer one.
Practical example: a greenside bunker on a par 4
Imagine a par-4 hole. Your second shot lands in the bunker to the left of the green. The ball sits cleanly on the sand. The flag is twelve metres away and the bunker lip is about one metre high.
You take the sand wedge, open the clubface and dig in your feet. The ball is forward in your stance. You aim at a point five centimetres behind the ball and swing at full speed to a high finish. The club glides through the sand, a small cloud flies up, the ball comes out and stops two metres from the hole. You hole the putt and have saved par after the bunker shot: four strokes on a par 4.
Golfers call this result a sand save. It means holing out from a greenside bunker with the bunker shot and one putt, usually for par, and the rate is a good measure of your bunker technique.
Rules in the bunker: what is allowed, what costs penalty strokes?
The Rules of Golf 2023 (Rule 12) contain a few special features for bunkers. It is worth knowing them before you play from the sand.
- Before the stroke you may remove loose impediments such as leaves or twigs and movable obstructions such as a rake or a bottle.
- You must not deliberately touch the sand to test its condition. This applies to hand, club and rake.
- The club must not touch the sand when you make a practice swing, ground the club right in front of or behind the ball, or start the backswing. A breach normally costs two penalty strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.
- After the stroke you smooth the sand with the rake. That is etiquette and protects your playing partners.
If you cannot play the ball, you have the unplayable ball option (Rule 19). In a bunker you have several choices, some costing one penalty stroke and, using the back-on-the-line option outside the bunker, two penalty strokes.
Greenside bunker, fairway bunker and plugged lie compared
Not every bunker shot is an explosion shot. The technique depends on the lie and the distance.
- Greenside bunker: the bunker is beside the green. You play the explosion shot with the sand wedge as described above.
- Fairway bunker: the bunker lies on the way to the green, often still a long way from it. Here you hit the ball first and the sand afterwards. You use a club with less loft, but enough to clear the lip safely, stand firmly and swing smoothly. Hitting the sand before the ball otherwise costs a lot of distance.
- Plugged lie: the ball is half buried in the sand, like a fried egg in a pan. Here you close the face slightly and dig deeper so the club gets under the ball. The ball then runs further than after a normal explosion shot.
In every case a firm stance helps. Feet slip easily in sand, so you swing with less body movement and more calm.
Common mistakes and drills for the bunker
Most poor shots come from the fear of not getting the ball out.
- The swing decelerates. The club enters the sand but does not come through, and the ball stays in the bunker. Always swing fully to the finish.
- The club enters the sand too early, far behind the ball. The ball comes up short. Practise entering a few centimetres behind the ball.
- The ball is hit first. The face then strikes the middle or top edge and the ball flies over the green. This often happens when the player tries to lift the ball.
- The clubface is not open. The leading edge then digs into the sand.
Three drills help. Draw a line in the sand with the club and a second line five centimetres behind the ball. Hit only into the line, without a ball. Play ten balls with the same swing length and note how far they travel. Then repeat with a longer swing. That teaches you how far each swing takes the ball.
Try it at Golf Lounge
The Golf Lounge’s 9-hole ‘Black’ course has bunkers and water hazards. You can play it with the DGV Platzreife, and it is open from April to December. If you would like to improve your sand technique beforehand, book a 60-minute individual lesson with the PGA coaches or a short focus session on the short game. On request the coaches analyse your swing with video and TrackMan data. You book your sessions online.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play a bunker shot in golf?
Take the sand wedge, open the clubface and stand with your feet slightly dug in and an open stance. The ball sits well forward. Enter the sand about five centimetres behind the ball and swing fully to a high finish. The sand carries the ball out of the bunker.
Which club do you use for a bunker shot?
In a greenside bunker you normally use the sand wedge. It has plenty of loft and a sole with bounce that glides through the sand. In a fairway bunker with a long distance to the green you choose a club with less loft and strike the ball first. The lob wedge is usually harder for beginners in sand.
Can you touch the sand with your club in a bunker?
Not before the stroke. A practice swing in the sand, grounding the club right in front of or behind the ball and touching the sand in the backswing are all prohibited. Removing loose impediments is allowed. A breach normally costs two penalty strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.
What is a sand save?
A sand save means holing out from a greenside bunker with one bunker shot and one putt, usually for par. On a par 4 that means a bunker shot onto the green followed by one putt. It serves as a statistic for bunker technique. It is a well-known figure on tour, and club golfers use it to monitor their own game.
What do you do if your ball is unplayable in a bunker?
For one penalty stroke you have three options: go back to where you played the previous stroke (stroke and distance), or drop in the bunker, either laterally within two club-lengths or back on the line. For a total of two penalty strokes you may also drop back on the line outside the bunker. Read through the options calmly before you decide.
As of: October 2026