Sand play is the one area of the game that troubles the social golfer, while the Tour Players make it look so simple. Why is this? The number one reason is that the social golfer is focusing on the BALL, while the Tour Player is focusing on the SAND. Here are some things you can focus on to improve your sand play.

Focus on splashing the sand out onto the green. The further the sand flies the further the ball will fly. If the sand doesn't get out of the bunker, then neither will the ball. Imagine the sand and the ball landing on the green together in the same spot. For a short shot the sand would fly out onto the front of the green. As the shot gets longer the sand will fly further. 

A great way to practice this is to draw some circles in the sand as pictured. Imagine that there is a ball in the middle of the circle. Now simply splash the circle of sand out onto the green. When you can repeat this, place a ball in the middle of the circle and splash the circle of sand out onto the green. Make sure you focus on splashing the sand out and not hitting the ball and you will be on your way to a better bunker game. Now, follow my 3 Priority Bunker Rule and you will never fear the sand again!

3 Priority Rule:

1. GET IT OUT! - Your first priority must be to get the ball out of the bunker. Leaving it in the sand is the same as a Wiff.
2. GET IT ON THE GREEN - Priority two is to get the ball onto the putting surface. On the green and down in two putts is not going to hurt you.
3. GET IT CLOSE - Priority three is to get the ball close to the hole. This will mean you will have to consider how far you want the ball to carry, how far it will roll, which way the green slopes and so on.

Make sure you always take care of priority 1. This will help eliminate those bunker disasters.