Golf Digest South Africa — January 2018

ne of the most difficult lies you

can get in a greenside bunker is

when the ball embeds a little into

the upslope, like the PGATour’s Patrick

Reed faced here.This is especially true

if the sand is soft. It’s difficult from an

awkward stance to swing with enough

acceleration to get the ball out of a

slightly buried lie. But I’ll show you in

four steps how to generate the power

necessary to execute this tricky shot.

–with ron kaspriske

14 / JANUARY 2018 / GOLFDIGEST.CO.ZA

Play Your Best

|

DAVID LEADBETTER

David Leadbetter operates

34 golf academies worldwide.

O

UNPLUGGED

Ball buried on the upslope?

You need speed

reed: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images • illustrations: todd detwiler, top: TIM LAHAN

1.SQUARE UP

▶Unless it’s

buried under

a lip, you don’t

need to add loft

to the shot to

clear the face of

the bunker. The

upslope helps, so

there’s no need

to open the face

of your wedge

like you would

in many bunker

situations.

Instead, square

it to your target

to give the shot

moreoomph.

2.LEAN IN

▶To generate

enoughpower

when you swing,

get your footing.

If you don’t

plant firmly, you

risk losing your

balance during

the swing. Put

more pressure

on your front

leg, and lean

into the slope

with your body.

3. BE AGGRESSIVE

▶ Once you have

a stable base,

you can be more

aggressive with

your downswing.

And believe me,

you’ll need to

generate all the

swing speed you

can. Really give

the sand just

behind the ball a

thump with your

wedge. Expect

a short fi nish.

4.STEP DOWN

▶Even with

anaggressive

downswing, you

still need more

power. To get it,

step down the

slope with your

lead foot as your

club hits the

sand. By moving

in the opposite

direction, you

transfer a lot

more energy

into the strike.

That should be

enough to get

the ball out.