Bunker Basics for Breaking 100: Getting Out in One Shot

The ball lands in the bunker and your stomach drops. You step in, take a huge swing, and the ball buries deeper into the sand. Or you catch it clean and it rockets across the green into another bunker. Two shots later, you're finally on the putting surface with a triple bogey.

Bunker fear is one of the most common confidence killers for golfers above 100. But here's the thing most people don't realize: the greenside bunker shot is one of the most forgiving shots in golf. You don't have to make precise contact with the ball. You just have to move the sand underneath it.

Most golfers fail in bunkers because they treat it like every other shot. They try to pick the ball clean off the sand, just like they'd hit off grass. But a bunker shot is fundamentally different. The club never touches the ball. The sand does the work.

Once you understand this, everything changes.

That's it. Three checkpoints. Open face, aim behind the ball, swing through. If you do these three things, the ball will come out of the bunker and land on the green the vast majority of the time.

Not swinging hard enough. Sand absorbs a huge amount of energy. What feels like a huge swing produces a surprisingly short shot. You need to commit to a full, aggressive motion.

Trying to scoop the ball up. The open clubface and the sand do the lifting. If you try to help the ball up by flipping your wrists, you'll either dig too deep or blade it.

Standing too far from the ball. Get your feet set in the sand about the same distance as a normal pitch shot. Dig your feet in slightly for stability, but don't stand back.

If your course has a practice bunker, spend 15 minutes there before your next round. Don't aim at a target. Just get the ball out. Hit 20 balls and count how many land on the green. If you can get 15 out of 20 onto the green, you have a functional bunker game.

Once you can get out consistently, start aiming at a general area of the green. But save the pin-hunting for later. Right now, "out and on" is the entire goal.

A helpful practice drill: draw a line in the sand 2 inches behind the ball. Practice hitting the line. This teaches you the correct entry point without worrying about the ball at all. Once you can consistently hit the line, add the ball back.

The best bunker strategy for breaking 100 is to stay out of bunkers altogether. When planning your approach shots, identify where the bunkers are and aim away from them. A shot that lands 20 feet from the pin but avoids the bunker is vastly better than one that tries to get close but catches the sand. Picking those safer targets is a core theme of our iron basics for breaking 100.

Bunker shots don't require talent. They require a different technique than what you use everywhere else. Open the face, aim behind the ball, and swing through the sand with commitment. Once you can escape in one shot consistently, bunkers stop being score killers and become minor inconveniences. That shift alone can save 2-4 strokes per round. And when you're ready for plugged lies and long sand shots, our situational bunker strategy for breaking 80 covers the next level.

• Bunker escape rates for high-handicap golfers are based on general amateur performance data from shot-tracking platforms. Many golfers above 100 require multiple attempts to exit greenside bunkers, making this a high-value improvement area.
• The technique described reflects standard greenside bunker instruction as taught by PGA professionals and golf instruction literature.