On the Lesson Tee
(Bunkers and bounce explained)

Sand and Lob wedges have a sole that is designed with more ’bounce’ than the rest of the irons in your set. As you’ll see from the diagram below, bounce is the term used to describe the angle between the front section of the sole and the ground. The greater the bounce, the higher the leading edge of the club will sit from the ground.

Often in a lesson scenario, golfers are aware of the idea of opening the clubface in the bunker (aiming it right of target for the right-hander), but often without quite understanding why this is important. The secret to consistent striking in the bunker is to encourage the bottom of the sole to hit the sand first (before you hit the ball). If you do this, the club is less likely to dig deeply into the sand and your chances of striking the shot well are greatly increased.

If however the leading edge strikes the sand first, inevitably the club will dig much more sharply into the sand, meaning that getting the strike we are after is much more difficult. So in short, bounce is good.

If you look at the image where the clubface is held open, you can see that open face effectively increases the bounce of the club, raising the leading edge further off the floor. This then means that the club is even less likely to dig on impact with the sand, and this makes life a whole lot easier!