What do you use out of a bunker?

[doubleeagle]

1 hour ago, jomatty said:

I use either my 58 low bounce K or 54/14f.  Lie, consistency of sand, length of shot and lip decide which one.  The 58k is great in packed/firm sand and the 54f is too easy out of softer/fluffy sand.  I use the 58 a lot as my course tends to have very hard bunkers. Bounce is more important than loft as far as choosing a club for most bunker shots.  The 58k is a very versatile club imho because it is good out of firm sand because of the low bounce but still is fine as the sand gets softer because of the wide sole. Much better than something like a T grind out of bunkers for me.  The 54/14f is great out of softer sand but I struggle with consistency in hard, compact sand unless I’m playing some sort of a square faced chunk and run, and even for that it is not my favorite.  Like cheating out of soft sand though…

 

Have to agree here, my 54.14F is a cheat code out soft fluffy sand, way too easy. It also serves me well in thick NC bermuda greenside rough. Thin or hard packed sand then it is the 58.10S

[jomatty]

13 hours ago, doubleeagle said:

 

Have to agree here, my 54.14F is a cheat code out soft fluffy sand, way too easy. It also serves me well in thick NC bermuda greenside rough. Thin or hard packed sand then it is the 58.10S

Yes.  When I started letting the lie and bounce dictate the club and shot as much as the loft of the club my short game got much better.  Before that I would use the 58 for most everything but realizing how much better a club like the 54/ 14f performs out of deep green side rough really helped to save those soul crushing pitches that don’t end up on the green.

[CKaneb]

I caddied in the U.S. Am this year for Mark Power (GB&I Walker Cupper, Top 100 Am in the World, Senior @ Wake Forest) and throughout the tournament whenever he was in a bunker that wasn't a fairway bunker he exclusively used his lob wedge (Titleist Vokey SM9 58*-08M)

 

When I noticed this I asked him why this was the case and he said that instead of changing the club he would use depending on the type of shot he needed to hit, he would change his swing (how far he'd take the club back, how steep he'd attack the ball, how close he would hit to the ball) and how open the club face was in order to achieve the same goal. I think for a lot of people on here who consider themselves to be "feel players" should definitely give this a try 

[rkillian]

Kind of depends. I don't play a low bounce wedge. Assuming a decent bunker lie, I will generally play my 54.10S and lay it open. If I'm short sided and/or I've really got to get over a lip/green is elevated I'm more likely to go with my 60. More and more I find that they only shots I really love my 60 from is a 30-40 yard pitch that has to stop fast. I can hit that number all day long. Otherwise there is just less margin for error with my lower lofted wedges.

[1puttTUT]

Vokey 58/10s

 

I also had a set of NCW wedges made that are transitioning into my main bag, but they're the same specs as my Vokeys: 54/10 and 58/10

[ChipNRun]

Mainstay club is a 54*/10 S-grind. Used the MD W-grind until recently... but local courses are going to heavier sand and the big flange tends to hang up in sand.

 

If I'm up against the lip close in, I will hit the 58*... just get it moving upward and everything is OK.

 

If it's a large green and I'm 40 yards from the pin, I'll take a 48* GW and rotate through with a solid half swing... not too much sand. It looks kinda like the chunkNrun they talk about on TV.

 

Big problem: in my county - all 600+ square miles of it - the only practice bunkers are located at St. Clair CC. All the rest went to seed in the past five years. One semi-private has a practice bunker - kinda - but only golfers getting lessons can use it.

[mudmarlin]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:30 AM, Palmydrain said:

Definitely the bounce. It should have more of a "Thud" sound with the higher bounce as the club isn't digging into the sand. Where I play, the sand is fairly hard so if I tried to used a 11 degree bounce wedge I would blade everything. As far as loft goes, I vary lofts with each shot. 

 

 

I have the same problem.  If I use too much bounce I blade everything across the green.  I gave up on trying bounce.  Even on courses with fluffier sand I play the same shot and have pretty good results.

Edited October 19, 2022 by mudmarlin

[mudmarlin]

Just now, mudmarlin said:

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by mudmarlin
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