How to Chip Over a Bunker

Chip Over a Sand Trap Bunker

Every golfer will need to know how to chip over a bunker at some point. You’ll hit it just short of the green and thankfully you’ll miss the sand trap. But now you’ve got to chip over that bunker to save par. Matt has the tips you need to keep the ball high and avoid hitting the bunker.

MATT DILLMAN, PGA PRO>> Hi, my name’s Matt Dillman, head golf professional here at Thousand Hills Golf Resort in Branson, Missouri. I’m talking about the short game today!

What I’ve got here is, I’ve left myself short and I’ve got to chip over the bunker and get it to stop near the pin. What I’m doing now is I’m focusing on getting the ball in the air so I’m using my most lofted club. In this situation I’ve got a 60 degree wedge.

Now the way I’m going to hit this, is that I’m going to put the ball more up in my stance so that I catch it on the upswing and add loft. With my hands I do want that club to release under the ball to get it up. The last thing I want to do is knock it right in the middle of that bunker. Let me hit a few, we’ll see what it looks like.

If you noticed, when I took that swing I kept the ball in the front of my stance but my body didn’t move. This isn’t a full swing and you don’t want to turn your whole body. Just use your arm and let the club release on through.

Maybe that will help you shoot lower scores!