How to Hit a Longer Greenside Bunker Shot

Most golfers can manage a short bunker shot from 10 to 15 yards but struggle once the pin sits farther from a greenside bunker. The longer shot does not require the same high, soft technique.

What's the fault?

Golfers tend to default to the same soft, high-lofted swing they use on short bunker shots, even when they have more distance to cover. That technique is built to carry the ball a short way and stop it quickly, and it becomes harder to control once extra carry is needed.

What's the fix?

Start with a sand wedge, and move to a lower-lofted club such as a gap or pitching wedge if more carry is needed. Swing it more like a pitch shot than a bunker shot: a wider, slightly slower takeaway that lets the club enter the sand closer to the ball produces more ball contact and less sand contact, generating the extra distance without a harder swing.

A longer bunker shot calls for a pitch-shot motion, not a bigger version of the short one.

What's the drill?

Practice the pitch-like motion and lower trajectory from the grass first, then carry that same swing into the bunker. The ball will not travel quite as far out of sand as it does off grass, so allow time to adjust the length of the swing. More experienced players, particularly those playing to single-digit handicaps, can also experiment with an even lower-lofted wedge from the same setup for another option when the pin sits farther away.

The technique is a timely one this week, with a recent redesign of the greenside bunkering at Medinah Country Club likely to put the world's best players in exactly this position during the 2026 Presidents Cup.