==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 24 Date 06/14/07 ==================================================== ==================================================== Golf Tip: Q&A Wet Sand ==================================================== If anyone has a golf question that they would like answered, please email your question to: teachingpro@bataviacc.com and I'll do my best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter. Brian W. emailed this question: What's the best way to get out of a bunker with wet sand? I've tried chipping it, blasting it, open face, closed face.... nothing works! Thanks for the question Brian. I don't want to turn this newsletter into the sand shot newsletter, so I'll answer this one then we'll give sand shot questions a break for awhile. About a month ago, I emailed out quite a bit of information on sand shots, and afterwards my son Tom, who was a club pro at some local WNY courses sent me an email that deals with Brian's question directly. Note that most of the time wet sand is packed or firm, if it's soupy wet you are allowed a free drop to an area within the bunker that does not have standing water, no closer to the hole. Here's what Tom had to say about this problem: "When the sand is packed or firm, use your PITCHING wedge. It has basically zero bounce, which is what you want when the sand is packed. Sand that is packed prevents the leading edge of your sand wedge from digging in; because of this, the bounce on the sand wedge will cause you to skull the ball almost 100% of the time. The pitching wedge with no bounce WILL dig in producing the same shot a sand wedge would under normal sand conditions. I’ve done this for the last 12+ years of my golfing life, you’ve seen my sand play -it works." He's right about his sand play. I'll add one thought to his remarks, after you dig your feet into the sand for a firm foundation for the shot, make sure that you choke down on the club the same distance that your feet went into the sand so that bottom of your swing arc is where you expect it to be.