GIMME ONE THING
Tap-In Sandies How to control distance
forward, weight on your front foot, shaft neutral) and make a three-quar- ter-length backswing. Whether the pin is tucked close to you, in the middle of the green or on the far side, keep the length of your backswing the same, but vary the length of your follow-through. Pay attention to the orientation of the butt end of the club and your body at the finish. That’s how you regulate how far the ball travels. The shorter the shot, the closer the grip finishes to your lead hip; the longer the shot, the further away. A good rule is that for greenside bun- ker shots of 10 metres or less, the butt end of the club should finish near your hip pocket (below, left). For a medium shot of 15-to-20 metres, finish it at your rib cage (below, centre). For the longest
of bunker shots, fin- ish it about shoulder height (below, right). Take a few swings out- side the bunker, visu- alising where the butt end of the grip is going
CHECK THE SHAFT Focus on
the butt end of the club and where it finishes.
to finish for the length of shot you’re trying to hit. Hold that finish for a few seconds, then repeat once more before stepping in to execute the shot. If you can replicate that same finish on your real swing, the ball should have the right amount of energy to finish near the hole. – WITH DAVE ALLEN JORDAN DEMPSEY, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Florida, teaches at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.
from the bunkers BY JORDAN DEMPSEY
MANY AMATEURS ARE happy just to get out of a greenside bunker in one shot. But if you
want to take your sand play to the next level and get up and down more often, you have to learn how to control the dis- tance the ball flies. Here’s a simple tech- nique I know will help you. Take your normal bunker setup (ball
30 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRIC A
JUNE 2026
PHOTOGRAPHS BY J D CUBAN
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