Golf Sand Instruction by Sam Snead and Gary
Player
Sam Snead's Golf Sand Instruction:
Instruction on the cardinal rules of sand trap play
(explosion-type) are as follows:
- Settle your feet firmly, digging in, so that nothing can shift under
you during the swing; also, since it's against the rules of golf to ground
your club in a trap, this will enable you to test the depth and
consistency of the sand.
- Play the ball off the left heel from a well-open stance and with the
clubface laid back as open as possible for quick loft.
- Let the arms and hands do the work, with little leg action;
the swing is straightforward from an upright position, with plenty of
wrist snap at impact.
-
Be sure the golf club head goes down and forward and
emerges with a full follow-through. If your left palm is facing downward
at the finish, you've kept the club head open and followed through with
good form. 
Some particularly tough hazard shots you'll meet and instruction
on how I play them:
Ball in a footprint: Hit it! Added to the fact that it's an
explosion shot, the ball is rimmed around with sand and needs extra
excavating. If it's a deep depression, switch from a sand iron to the
nine-iron or fairway wedge, both of which have quicker "bite".
Ball bunkered in downhill lie at back of trap: You get these
back-slope babies now and then. First, take more sand back of the ball
than on the flat: dig in a good two inches behind the ball. Close the
clubface a bit to conform to the sand's contour. Play the ball back a bit,
off the right heel.
Ball in level lie on shallow, firm sand and with no overhang lip:
If these four situations exist, use your putter. Use a flat-arm
motion,not a chop, so that the blade is parallel to the sand. If you avoid
making contact on either the upswing or downswing, which would loft or
mash the ball into sand, and strike squarely n the middle , the putter
will take you out nicely. I keep my weight forward.
Ball at front of trap, uphill lie: Keep in mind that you're
hitting up: therefore, the club head will plow through deeper and deeper
sand as it moves toward and through the ball. This means (1) you need to
hit a bit closer to the golf ball than on the flat and (2) your
follow-through must be especially forceful. My weight remains on the left
side and I play the outside-in cut shot, as described before. The clubface
stays open and square to the line of flight.
A couple of sand instruction tips for working on your sand game I've
used: Ralph Guldahl, a great bunker player, liked to break a sand
"slump" by practicing dummy swings in which he aimed to take divots of
equal size. He wanted his sand divots to be about six inches long and
three-quarters of an inch deep. Then "Ralph dropped a ball, took real
shots with the same swing.
To improve accuracy at hitting behind the ball, draw a line two inches
behind the all or sink a tee. Now aim for these targets, forgetting the
ball.
Gary Player's golf instruction for the correct stance in
the sand with relation to the ball and the direction you want to go for
different sand shots:
A) Basic golf sand shot - stance is open, left foot facing
target consderably and right slightly. Ball is played off left foot. Club
face is opened to the right and enters sand about 2" behind ball.
B) Buried lie in the sand - stance is square with only left
foot pointed slightly toward target. Ball played farther back in stance
with clubface square. Club again enters sand about 2" behind ball.
C) Shot from wet sand - same stance and ball placement as
for basic sand shot, and clubface opened to right. Only difference is that
club enters sand farther behind ball -about 3 inches- because it will not
cut as deeply in wet sand.
D) Uphill shot in sand - same as basic shot except that ball
played a bit farther back in stance -note line going to left heel- and
club enters sand closer to ball -about 1" from it- player must be extra
sure to move club through sand on this shot since it must cut through more
sand.
E) Downhill in sand - same as basic except ball played even
farther forward in stance -note line going to toe- and club to enter sand
farther behind ball- about 3", , depending on incline of slope.
Sam Snead's golf sand instruction:
Instruction on the cardinal rules of sand trap play
(explosion-type) are as follows:
- Settle your feet firmly, digging in, so that nothing can shift under
you during the swing; also, since it's against the rules of golf to ground
your club in a trap, this will enable you to test the depth and
consistency of the sand.
- Play the ball off the left heel from a well-open stance and with the
clubface laid back as open as possible for quick loft.
- Let the arms and hands do the work, with little leg action The
swing is straightforward from an upright position, with plenty of
wrist snap at impact.
-
Be sure the golf club head goes down and forward and
emerges with a full follow-through. If your left palm is facing downward
at the finish, you've kept the club head open and followed through with
good form.
Some particularly tough hazard shots you'll meet and instruction
on how I play them:
Ball in a footprint: Hit it! Added to the fact that it's an
explosion shot, the ball is rimmed around with sand and needs extra
excavating. If it's a deep depression, switch from a sand iron to the
nine-iron or fairway wedge, both of which have quicker "bite".
Ball bunkered in downhill lie at back of trap: You get these
back-slope babies now and then. First, take more sand back of the ball
than on the flat: dig in a good two inches behind the ball. Close the
clubface a bit to conform to the sand's contour. Play the ball back a bit,
off the right heel.
Ball in level lie on shallow, firm sand and with no overhang lip:
If these four situations exist, use your putter. Use a flat-arm
motion,not a chop, so that the blade is parallel to the sand. If you avoid
making contact on either the upswing or downswing, which would loft or
mash the ball into sand, and strike squarely n the middle , the putter
will take you out nicely. I keep my weight forward.
Ball at front of trap, uphill lie: Keep in mind that you're
hitting up: therefore, the club head will plow through deeper and deeper
sand as it moves toward and through the ball. This means (1) you need to
hit a bit closer to the golf ball than on the flat and (2) your
follow-through must be especially forceful. My weight remains on the left
side and I play the outside-in cut shot, as described before. The clubface
stays open and square to the line of flight.
A couple of sand instruction tips for working on your sand game I've
used: Ralph Guldahl, a great bunker player, liked to break a sand
"slump" by practicing dummy swings in which he aimed to take divots of
equal size. He wanted his sand divots to be about six inches long and
three-quarters of an inch deep. Then "Ralph dropped a ball, took real
shots with the same swing.
To improve accuracy at hitting behind the ball, draw a line two inches
behind the all or sink a tee. Now aim for these targets, forgetting the
ball.
Gary Player's golf instruction for the correct stance in
the sand with relation to the ball and the direction you want to go for
different sand shots:
A) Basic golf sand shot - stance is open, left foot facing
target consderably and right slightly. Ball is played off left foot. Club
face is opened to the right and enters sand about 2" behind ball.
B) Buried lie in the sand - stance is square with only left
foot pointed slightly toward target. Ball played farther back in stance
with clubface square. Club again enters sand about 2" behind ball.
C) Shot from wet sand - same stance and ball placement as
for basic sand shot, and clubface opened to right. Only difference is that
club enters sand farther behind ball -about 3 inches- because it will not
cut as deeply in wet sand.
D) Uphill shot in sand - same as basic shot except that ball
played a bit farther back in stance -note line going to left heel- and
club enters sand closer to ball -about 1" from it- player must be extra
sure to move club through sand on this shot since it must cut through more
sand.
E) Downhill in sand - same as basic except ball played even
farther forward in stance -note line going to toe- and club to enter sand
farther behind ball- about 3", , depending on incline of slope.
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