For a good bunker shot, the routine check would be
- The lie
- Sand condition
- how deep we are going to dig
- how safe we want to play the shot
- a light pressure shot
Now, if we look at most of the GOLF CHANNEL and MAGAZINE.. most writer and presenter of the GOLF CHANNEL pros... they always advice golf to hit 1 -1.5 inch behind the ball.. how true is that.
If we just look at the divot of our normal 60 yds pitch shot, we can make a divot of
6 - 7 inches. Now, if we are doing the same thing in the bunker, we would have to aim at least 3 inches behind in order to get under the ball (digging say 3/4 of a inch underneath the ball - total length of the shot from enter the sand to exit the sand should be about 5-6 inches)to clear the bunker and land 20-25 feet from where we hit it from.
Obviously, we can hit 1 inch behind the ball if we
scoop it out.