Bunker play: open face, bounce first, and a disagreement about the sand.

Directions here are for a right-handed golfer (lead side left, trail side right). This page is about greenside bunker shots. For fairway bunkers, see the hybrid tip near the end.

Nick Faldo's method

Sir Nick Faldo set out his greenside bunker technique for Golf Today (2020, updated 2025). In summary:

• Open the face first. He opens the sand wedge's face before completing his grip.
• Open the stance. He sets up as much as 30 degrees open to the target, with his weight favouring the lead side and his feet shuffled down into the sand.
• Ball position. Opposite the lead instep, just forward of centre.
• Swing shape. A shallow, U-shaped swing along the line of his body, striking the sand with the bounce rather than the leading edge.
• Focus. A spot a couple of inches behind the ball, with the clubhead accelerating through the sand and the trail hand releasing for speed and spin.

Faldo controls distance by matching the length of his backswing and follow-through, and by gripping down the handle. Worse lies, such as a depressed or plugged ball, come out lower and roll more, and he says a plugged ball needs a firmer thump.

Matt McLean's method

Matt McLean, director of instruction at Fishers Island and one of Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers, described a different setup in Australian Golf Digest in 2015. He opens the face by leaning the handle away from the target, so the hands are level with or slightly behind the ball. That exposes the bounce and, he says, lets the golfer keep a square stance.

McLean warns against the opposite: pushing the hands forward at address removes bounce and turns the face to the right, which forces the golfer to aim well left and swing out to in to compensate.

His drill is to splash a buried tee out of the sand onto the green, in line with his aim of putting the low point of the swing under the ball.

Where they disagree

Where the club enters the sand

Faldo focuses on a spot a couple of inches behind the ball. McLean says the familiar cue to hit a few inches behind the ball causes chunks and skulls, and wants the low point of the swing directly under the ball instead.

How open to stand

Faldo stands up to 30 degrees open. McLean's handle-lean method lets the golfer stand square. A Keiser University College of Golf article, as summarised, sides with the open approach, recommending a forward ball position, an open stance and a swing that cuts across the ball.

A teaching professional can watch which method produces a consistent strike for you.

Other bunker shots

Kellie Stenzel, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher, suggests a hybrid from fairway bunkers, played with a normal swing (GOLF.com, 2023). More on hybrids is on the iron play page.

What the Rules let you touch

Bunker technique has to fit inside Rule 12 of the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023. The R&A says the next edition is due on 1 January 2028. Rule 12.2b lists four things you must not do before a stroke from a bunker:

1. deliberately touch the sand to test it;
2. touch the sand with your club right in front of or right behind the ball;
3. touch the sand in a practice swing;
4. touch the sand in your backswing for the stroke.

The breach costs the general penalty. Three of those limits bear directly on the methods above: a practice swing in the bunker must not touch the sand, the club must not touch the sand right behind the ball at address, and it must not touch the sand in the backswing.

Some things are allowed. Rule 12.2b lets you dig your feet in to take a stance, which is what Faldo's shuffle into the sand does, and Rule 12.2a lets you remove loose impediments and movable obstructions. If the ball is badly placed, Rule 19.3 gives unplayable-ball options for one penalty stroke, with any back-on-the-line or lateral drop staying in the bunker, or back-on-the-line relief outside it for two penalty strokes in total. There is no free relief for a ball embedded in a bunker: Rule 16.3 gives embedded-ball relief in the general area only. The full detail is on the bunkers rules page and the unplayable ball page.