There are few things on a golf course that most golfers fear more than a bunker.
The overwhelming number of recreational golfers just don't have the time or commitment to consistently work on their bunker game, so the experience they have of hitting out of a bunker comes from the times they hit into them on the golf course. That makes bunker shots a scary proposition, especially when the danger for missing is great -- like hitting into water, the woods or out of bounds.
The way to make bunker shots even scarier for golfers is to ask them to hit a bunker shot from a buried lie.
Buried lies happen in a bunker for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the sand is too soft. Sometimes the ball comes into the bunker with too much speed or height. There are a bunch of reasons, and some are beyond the golfer's control. The result, though, is a lie that makes escape difficult and the typical explosion shot not particularly effective.
The good news is that the great Gary Player has given the answer for the best way to get out of a buried, fried-egg lie from a bunker with the best possible results.
The conventional wisdom about hitting an explosion shot out of a bunker from a common lie in the sand is to grab a sand wedge, open up the face at address, aim to the left of the target, have a V- or U-shaped takeaway and swing with speed to hit about an inch behind the golf ball. The idea is to create an explosion of sand that helps propel the ball out of the bunker. However, this shot doesn't work well with a buried lie.
Instead, the bunker shot to hit with a fried-egg lie is much simpler. Take a wedge, ideally one with less bounce, and address the ball more like a standard bump-and-run shot with the handle of the club forward. From there, the shot is pretty easy: hit it more like a choppy chip shot, where you're trying to hit just behind the ball instead of a full inch behind. The swing has to be powerful enough to get through the sand that creates the fried egg lie for the shot.
The result will be a ball that pops out of the lie and the bunker with some loft, although certainly with less spin than a shot the golfer could control better. Depending on the situation, that may mean the best possible outcome isn't a shot that puts the ball close to the hole. Rather, just keeping the ball on the green and having a chance for an up-and-down is a successful outcome.
If you can use this method to get yourself out of a bunker from a fried-egg lie in the first try, then you've done a great job.
