Not a question, so much as a comment...you know how in the golf magazine tips they always say if you have to carry a high lipped bunker, you should make a follow thru on your swing like you are tossing sand over your left shoulder (for a righty). When I was watching golf on TV last weekend, I saw a couple of guys doing just that. It really helped me see what I should be doing! Nothing worse than chickening out on the swing and hitting it right into the face of the bunker!

I also heard a good tip for distance control out of bunkers. They said to feel like you are trying to "fly" the sand to the flag. Of course, the sand slows down your swing, and the ball lands short of the flag and rolls up to it. I never thought of it like that, and I'm gonna try it sometime in mid July when the snow melts here.

Yeah, then after the snow melts, the sand is like wet packed concrete until June...

No doubt about it, you have to commit to the shot, and accelarate though the ball. Not a good time to chicken out. Never heard the "over your shoulder" tip. Just to try to throw the sand onto the green to make sure you commit.

Aimee, divots and Don,
If everyone does what you three are talking about, will it be difficult to putt with all that sand around the hole?
Golf is truly a complex game.

Bill, you know on some holes I do see a lot of sand on the green close to the bunker...

Bill: Isn't that the real reason there is a rake by the bunker? So you can rake the sand back into it?
Aimee: I read one tip not long ago. The pro, mentioned that his sand game improved when he started aiming at the flag on top of the stick, not at the cup. Caused him to hit the ball a little farther, and not come up short so much. If you tend to come up short, (not a knock on your height), you might try this tip a few times.

Thanks, good tip. My usual problem was more hitting it too thin, sending it too far, because the sand was pretty firm at home (ie, wet concrete). When I played in AZ, I had no problem from the sand because it was nice, fluffy, dry sand! I felt comfortable getting the club under the ball, vs. at home where the sand is not as "perfect".

Aimee, what part of NJ do you play at? What courses do you play?

What's the bounce on your sand wedge? Maybe you need a little less bounce for the firm conditions? Too much bounce will actually make the SW "skip" off the hard sand and into the ball, rather than under it. I amassing many wedges with different bounce specs for the different courses I play. (Go figure, huh?! Me buying more clubs!)

Caddy, I'm in Central NJ and play the Mercer County courses most of the time (Mountainview or Mercer Oaks), occassionally play Gambler's Ridge and some others in that area, some in South Jersey (I like Golden Pheasant but haven't been back there in a while).

Yes, I did notice an improvement last year when I got a new sand wedge which had less bounce than the old one. It's more of an issue in the spring because of everything being wet and packed (so I'm anticipating my challenges). County courses re-open for the season March 1st!

Aimee,
divots is probably correct, cut down on the bounce.

As Divots mentioned, too much bounce angle could be your problem. We have firm bunkers here, and my 14* bounce SW doesn't work at all. Changed to a 10* bounce SW, and problem solved. Another option would be to try your 60* wedge, my bet is it has less bounce than your SW, and may solve your problem of having the wedge "bounce" right off the sand and hitting the ball thin.

My SW is either 10 or 12 degree bounce, I don't remember off the top of my head. I bought it used and it looks like the prev. owner ground it down a little, so it does have a lesser bounce angle. I'll be trying out the 60 degree LW this spring for sure.