On the Beach

     There was a time when the mere thought of hitting into a
bunker or sand trap struck fear into even the bravest heart. That
was, of course, before Gene Sarazen invented the sand iron as 
we know it today. Equipped with that awesome blade anyone can 
play for the green without much thought or concern for ending up 
in the sand.

     Interestingly enough, it's now the exceptional rough around
the green that causes the problem. Before sand play became
child's play the greens were surrounded by light or semi-rough.
The penalty for errant shots was extracted by the sand. Now the
situation is reversed.

     Anyone who watches television golf sees the results of hours
of practice by professionals with a highly developed sense of
touch. 

	Paul Azinger, who plays out of The River Club North East
of Bradenton, FL, has been known to spend two to three hours at 
a stretch playing hundreds of sand shots of various kinds. The
result was the Memorial Tournament finish in 1994.
	It doesn't take that level of dedication or practice, however, 
to become proficient at getting out of the sand and onto the green 
the first time, every time.

     Depending on your lie, the available green to work with and
your skill level there may be, in descending priority, three
objectives: 
	1- Get Out, 
	2- get on the green and 
	3- get close to the hole. 

	The first and always greatest priority is to get out of the 
sand.  This is just as true for play from a fairway bunker as
from greenside.

     There are three common situations that you will be
confronted with: a good lie, a plugged lie and a plugged lie in
the face of the bunker.

     When playing from around the green you must always remember
that the club never touches the ball. What you should visualize
and try to accomplish is to slice a layer of sand upon which the
ball will ride. The sand wedge with it's heavy, protruding flange
prevents you from digging into the sand and makes this shot 
easy to perform every time.

     To execute the "splash" ( really a misnomer) shot from a 
good lie, place the ball a bit more toward your left foot than for a 
normal iron shot (about 1 inch inside your left heel) and open the 
club face about 20 to 30 degrees before you take your normal grip. 
Set up with your feet and shoulders pointing an equal 20 to 30 
degrees left of the target. Wiggle your feet securely into the sand 
and shade your weight slightly onto your left foot. There will be 
very little weight transfer or leg action for these shots so leave 
your weight concentrated more on your left than right foot. Now, 
just swing your arms back and up and hit down to a spot about two 
inches behind the ball while thinking about slicing out a layer of 
sand 6 inches long.

     The ball will come out high and soft with very little back
spin. To get the ball higher, open the club face a bit more to
the right and your stance an equal amount more to the left. The
ball will fly higher and even softer. To get more distance,
reduce the amount you have opened the clubface and your body and
make the same swing.

     For a plugged lie we must get the club deeper to get under
the ball and lift out that layer of sand. Take a more square
stance (only slightly open) with the club face pointing just
barely to the right of the target and put even more weight on
your left foot (about 70 percent). Now just hit down firmly about
1 inch behind the ball and, as on all shots, accelerate through
to the target.

     When the ball is plugged into the face of the bunker you
must realize that you are not going to have much, if any, follow
through. Adopt the same stance and set up as for the normally
plugged lie (square to slightly open stance and clubface, weight
on the left foot) and hit into the sand as hard as you can
(without losing balance) 1 inch behind the ball. The ball will
pop up very steeply and stop quickly.

     Try these techniques in practice before you need them. You
will be surprised at how easy they really are.