6 Steps to Save Par with a Fairway Bunker Shot (2024)

It happened, your tee shot has ended up in a fairway bunker and now you’re walking up to your ball still mad about your last shot. Quit it! Just because your ball is in a fairway bunker doesn’t mean you need to settle for bogey or worse. Birdie and par are still in play if you have the right attitude and the right plan to execute your shot from a fairway bunker correctly.

Here’s how to prepare yourself for playing out of a fairway bunker:

The first thing you need to consider is your lie.

1 – Evaluate your lie & target line

The lie of the ball is going to determine what you can do with it. It dictates much of what you’re going to be able to do for your next shot: How far the ball is going to go, the club you’re able to use to get at it, but also what sort of lip do I have to go over. You need to ask yourself: What angle do I need to launch this ball at to get it over the lip of the bunker?

Consider all of these important factors when playing out of a fairway bunker. Make sure to do this before you decide on the shot you’re going to play. Take a close look at what you can do and assess your situation in terms of what sort of shot you can hit out of the bunker.

2 – Make contact with the ball first

When playing from a fairway bunker, the objective is to hit the ball before you hit the sand.

Make clean contact with the ball first and then if your club catches a bit of sand on the way through, that’s totally fine. It’s all about making good contact with the ball.

The one thing I would do first is grip down on the shaft a little bit, maybe and inch or two on the grip. And then once I get into my setup I still tend to dig my feet in a little bit to get into a nice stable stance.

Another thing that I do that I wouldn’t do on any other shot is increase my grip pressure to grip the club more firmly. It shortens your forearms when the muscles are engaged, which helps to make sure your swing plane comes down to the ball first and not the sand.

This way the worst that can happen is that you’ll catch it a little thin, which may not be the ideal result, but it’ll get you further down the fairway. This is a much more desirable result than catching it heavy, allowing the club face to sink into the sand and getting the ball out 20-30 yards ahead of where you’re standing.

3 – Place the ball further back in your stance

I normally play the ball a bit further back in my stance to ensure I’m coming down and making contact with the ball before the sand. This technique will also help with preventing you from catching the ball thin.

4 – Add extra club and use only 75% power

I usually take a club more out of a fairway bunker and not take as full as a swing. Maybe a three quarter swing back.

By choking down on the club a bit, tightening grip pressure and only taking a ¾ swing, it usually equates to about a club difference. For some it may mean two clubs. Just remember, technique is what matters when playing from fairway sand traps.

5 – Control your swing speed

You’re going to be able to control your ball much easier when you control your swing speed and don’t try to just lash out at it full power. Fairway bunker shots are more about technique than raw power because if you miss your contact point, no amount of power in the world is going to make up for a club being buried in the sand.

Keep your lower body a little quieter and you’ll find yourself making better contact on the ball and getting better results when playing from fairway bunkers.

6 – Fairway bunker shots: When to use a fairway wood

Consider using a 3-wood or rescue club if it’s a par 5 and there isn’t much of a lip, and your ball is sitting in a good lie.

These are the conditions you want when attempting a fairway wood out of a bunker. Your stance is key to hitting this shot, if you don’t have stable footing you won’t be able to control your height in your follow-through and can catch the sand before the ball. Make the smart play if any of the conditions aren’t right for this type of shot.

Conclusion

Don’t get discouraged when your ball lands in a fairway bunker. Use your head and plan out your strategy by evaluating your lie, considering any obstacles, setting up your stance and controlling your swing.

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