High on the list of the defining features of RedTail Landing Golf Club are the beautiful and bountiful bunkers that help shape the fairways and protect the greens.  If you are going to come out here to play, you need to know how to hit it out of the sand.  Without going too deep into the proper techniques for the various shots you will need to play form the ‘beach’, let me just say this… “If you want to be good at hitting balls out of the bunkers, you need to be good at hitting the ‘sand’ out of the bunkers!”  Next time you are at the practice bunker, forget about the balls and simply practice removing consistent patches of sand out of the bunker.  Draw a couple of parallel lines in the sand about 6 to 8 inches apart, take a stance so that the lines are roughly pointed at your ankles and take swings focusing on removing just the sand from in between the lines.  You will find that the steadier you keep your head, the more accurate you will become at having the club enter near the back line and exit near the front (no dipping or getting tall here please).   Start off by taking smaller swings and always remember to ‘finish’ (don’t leave the club head stuck in the trap).  Rake up your area, draw the lines again, and put a ball in between the lines.  Don’t worry about the ball; just keep your focus on removing the sand from in between the lines under the ball, and the ball will take care of itself.  We will talk more about sand shots in future tips, but for now if you are still having trouble with these shots, practice good course management by focusing on hitting more fairways and greens and stay tuned for more help on getting out of the sand …

See you soon,

Dave Lengyel