By Dave Pelz
When you face a buried lie in a greenside bunker lie, you really have to temper your expectations on how close to the hole you can land the ball. From a perfect lie in the sand, you could simply set the face of your sand wedge open, play the ball off your left heel, align a little left of the target and your normal blast swing lofts the ball out of the sand.
From a buried lie, however, you’re looking at a situation where it’s easy to hit a low, ugly screamer over the green, if you get it out of the sand at all. A buried lie is a hideous sight; the ball plugged almost entirely below the surface.
Since it is impossible to create a lot of backspin, most golfers think they can’t get it close from a buried lie. You can. Next time you are faced with one of these lies, try the Cock and Pop technique. It’s a shot I learned from my good friend and former PGA Tour and Champions Tour pro Tom Jenkins.
How to Hit the Cock-and-Pop Shot:
- Play the ball off your back foot and close the club face at address, so the total of the club will enter and dig into the sand first.
- Cock your wrists fully as you make a short backswing.
- Pop down onto the ball, and don’t follow through. The resistance of the sand will square the clubface as it flips the ball on to the green. Expect a lower trajectory than you would see from a normal blast.
- Try a few Cock and Pop shots from buried lies the next time you practice. Your shot pattern will be more spread out than normal, but trust the technique and you’ll be surprised how often you give yourself a chance of getting up-and-down … even when it looks impossible.
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