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Hitting long irons out of fairway traps. (3,4,5)

• 998373 5 Posts

  Mon, Feb 4 2013 5:08 PM

  Not having success. Any ideas?

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Mon, Feb 4 2013 5:50 PM

  It sounds like you might not be respecting the bunker enough. Long irons come out low and oftentimes can't/don't clear the edge of the bunker. You might not see it actually hit that edge but the result is the same. 

  Punches work great as long as you know you can clear the bunker wall. Hit the fairway and your reward is the roll, especially with top spin. Club down to be sure until you're comfortable. Better to have a long fairway iron than another bad lie.

• BubbaCrusher007 1,567 Posts

  Mon, Feb 4 2013 6:39 PM

  The only course I know at WGT that allows a long iron bunker shot is Bethpage Black where they have those silky 20% bunkers. Even at that, you'll rarley get a shot to the green 200 yrds. I don't plan on hitting it very far out of a bunker unless I have a 10 or 20% lie.

  I agree with YJ. about the punch shot. Seems like the punch will advance the ball the farthest out of deaper bunkers with fried egg lie.

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Mon, Feb 4 2013 6:53 PM

  Greed is the downfall of many a man!

  Play percentages and get the ball back into play. As YJ says punch works well provided you can clear the bunker wall. if you get the ball on the fairway 100 yards out you can still salvage par and avoid those nasty double bogeys.

  As a rule more than 150 yards out I would not contemplate going for the green on most courses/bunkers. Also bear in mind the trajectory of your clubs will make the difference in clearing the bunker wall - so its is worth putting a game into practice mode and experimenting.

• 998373 5 Posts

  Tue, Feb 5 2013 3:57 PM

  Thanks guys....In real life I have good success with long irons out of fairway traps, on WGT this doesn't seem to translate well. I'll keep an eye on the line in the trap. Of course it's better not to hit into them, but I have ways been a bit of a gambler on my drives.