Golf Tips: Downhill Lie in Bunker

It doesn't happen often, but it happens too often!  One of the toughest shots in golf is dealing with the dreaded "downhill lie in a bunker" situation.  What does that mean? A downhill lie means the ball is on a slope.  The ground is sloping from a high point to a low point, and the low point is in the direction of the target. This situation is extremely difficult.  Most amateur golfers will end up hitting a thin or bladed shot far far over the green, or they may end up chunking the shot (hitting behind the ball) and merely advancing the ball a few feet in the bunker. Setup The setup for this shot is not as difficult as one might think.  It is important to realize that the low point of the swing, where the golf club bottoms out, is going to be more toward the player's back foot, farther up the slope.  Therefore the ball must be positioned at that point, not typically middle or forward like one might play a regular bunker shot. In short, ball back in stance. Next the player needs to setup so that the shoulder line is the same angle as the slope.  Some players may bend a knee to level out their stance.  This will not work.  The shoulders must be parallel to the slope. Swing Now that the setup is correct, what is the swing for this tough shot?  Many bunker shots call for aiming behind the ball and taking a lot of sand out of the bunker along with the ball.  Doing so with a downhill like will produce bad results.  This swing needs to extract very little sand.  The player should try to "pick" the ball off of the sand if possible. Result It is nearly impossible to fully control the downhill bunker shot.  The ball will run quite a bit after landing on the green. Plan accordingly and make the aiming point short of the pin to allow the ball to roll, and settle as close to the pin as possible. This shot takes practice and confidence to execute.