Golf is simply one of the best sports in the world, and we're lucky enough to have another major tournament to watch this week.
We loved watching the pros take on Valhalla Golf Club at the PGA Championship. As with any huge championship course, the Valhalla GC has its fair share of hazards. Now, you may well be the kind of golfer to groan when you walk on to the next tee and see the fairway littered with bunkers.
Valhalla GC has 60 bunkers, with a greenside bunker on 17/18 holes
The Valhalla course has a greenside bunker on every hole besides the 12th, so those that played well in the tournament did well to keep on their toes to overcome the obstacles. Bunkers are famously difficult to play, so today we want to give you some advice on how best to tackle them, as well as give you a solid recommendation in the form of the latest golf wedge offerings from TaylorMade.
Fairway bunkers
It can feel rather daunting sizing up the fairway when we’re on the tee, feeling those fairway bunkers shooting daggers right back at us. It can also feel especially cruel when we make excellent contact with the ball only for it to take a bad bounce on the fairway and trickle into the sand trap.
That being said, you’ve got to give the course designer credit for strategically placing these bunkers to make the game more challenging and exciting.
To get yourself happily out of a fairway bunker, you need to make solid impact with the ball to punch it through the sand. It can be notoriously difficult to hit out of a bunker as the feel is so different to hitting any other terrain you’d find on the golf course.
How do your bunker shots usually go? Are you good at escaping them or do you find that it takes you a few goes to get out of a dreaded bunker? If you’re struggling with bunker shots and find fairway bunkers to be downright demoralizing, we’d love to change that.
Why not visit us in the pro shop to get some bunker lessons booked? It feels really satisfying when you splash the ball out of the bunker just right!
Greenside bunkers
How do you feel when you realise your ball has ended up in a greenside bunker? Once the frustration has gone, are you confident that you’ll get up-and-down, or worried about racking up a high number?
Once you’ve stepped into the bunker and you’re sizing up your shot, what’s the usual plan of attack? Do you focus on the flag and go for the hole? Or is simply getting the ball onto the green a success in your book?
To make a decent bunker shot, you’ll want a club that has a rounded bottom with plenty of bounce. This will allow you to glide the wedge through the sand without digging into it so you make great contact with the ball.
You’ll want to dig your feet into the sand so you have a solid stance, and commit to a full swing to ensure you splash through the sand. You’ll get out of the sand every time when you head into a bunker with the latest Milled Grind 4 golf wedge from TaylorMade.
The latest TaylorMade golf wedges
The Milled Grind 4 wedge is a truly phenomenal bit of hardware. The grooves on this golf wedge have been laser etched to provide a channel for any water to escape when you strike the ball, meaning you’ll get the same great grip even when you’re playing on damp ground.
TaylorMade has fully machined the sole, and the flange thickness has been increased and improved since the MG3. The result of this construction is a wedge that feels great in your hands and effortlessly cuts through terrain. The spin tread grooves ensure you’ll have excellent control over your bunker shots.
If you find you regularly hit open-faced wedge shots, the Hi-Toe 3 wedges will help you pop the ball in the air more effectively. The milled grind sole offers a more consistent turf interaction and the micro ribs on the face grooves give you more spin on your strikes.
When you pick up one of these wedges, you’ll appreciate how the aged copper finish makes this club look fantastic when you address the ball. The face-length grooves inspire confidence, and the added weight pad in the toe centralizes the centre of gravity to give you an optimal launch. The Hi-Toe 3 comes in both low and high bounce options, the latter being ideal for smooth bunker play.
If you’re considering getting yourself some new golf wedges this season, why not pop by the pro shop? We’d be happy to help you find the perfect set of wedges and help you into them with some lessons.
You'll receive our weekly newsletter and special offers
Thanks for letting us know that you are having issues receiving our emails
Whilst we investigate, please read our page on the email whitelisting and ensure you've added me to your Safe Senders list
Manage Consent Preferences for www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
Cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so we can provide an enhanced browsing experience. For more information on the cookies we use, see our Cookie Policy
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Name
Host
Duration
Description
.FgEmp.Session
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
Session
.FgEmp.Antiforgery
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
Session
JSESSIONID
.nr-data.net
Session
General purpose platform session cookie, used by sites written in JSP. Usually used to maintain an anonymous user session by the server.
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA
youtube.com
6 months
This cookie is used to store the user's consent and privacy choices for their interaction with the site. It records data on the visitor's consent regarding various privacy policies and settings, ensuring that their preferences are honored in future sessions.
__cf_bm
.vimeo.com
30 minutes
This cookie is used to distinguish between humans and bots. This is beneficial for the website, in order to make valid reports on the use of their website.
_cfuvid
.vimeo.com
Session
This cookie is used for purposes of tracking users across sessions to optimize user experience by maintaining session consistency and providing personalized services.
Performance cookies are used to see how visitors use the website, eg. analytics cookies. Those cookies cannot be used to directly identify a certain visitor.
Name
Host
Duration
Description
_ga
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
1 year 1 month
This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics - which is a significant update to Google's more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports.
_gid
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
1 day
This cookie is set by Google Analytics. It stores and update a unique value for each page visited and is used to count and track pageviews.
_ga_Z6F6C858LY
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
1 year 1 month
This cookie is used by Google Analytics to persist session state.
Targeting cookies are used to identify visitors between different websites, eg. content partners, banner networks. Those cookies may be used by companies to build a profile of visitor interests or show relevant ads on other websites.
Name
Host
Duration
Description
_gat_gtag_UA_192469971_1
www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk
53 seconds
This cookie is part of Google Analytics and is used to limit requests (throttle request rate).
YSC
.youtube.com
Session
This cookie is set by YouTube to track views of embedded videos.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
.youtube.com
6 months
This cookie is set by Youtube to keep track of user preferences for Youtube videos embedded in sites;it can also determine whether the website visitor is using the new or old version of the Youtube interface.
Functionality cookies are used to remember visitor information on the website, eg. language, timezone, enhanced content.
Name
Host
Duration
Description
vuid
.vimeo.com
1 year 1 month
These cookies are used by the Vimeo video player on websites.
Cookies on www.wychwoodparkgolfclub.co.uk website
We use cookies to provide visitors with the best possible experience on our website. These include analytics, and authentication cookies, which may also be used in our marketing efforts. Click the button to agree to the use of cookies or click ‘Settings’ to manage your preferences. Cookie Policy