What To Do In All That Sand?

Because of our coastal location, some courses make extensive use of the sand. Huge waste bunkers sometimes run the length of a hole, sometimes as far as the golfer's eye can see.

Founders Club at Pawleys Island makes use of sprawling waste bunkers framing each fairway. Another course with impressive bunkers is Long Bay Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus. Its many bottomless bunkers are so huge that they double as cart paths. "This course," says Jim Fellner, Director of Golf at Long Bay, "offers everything the greatest player in the game wants a player to experience."

Hitting a golf ball out of sand can be one of the most discouraging experiences in the sport, but if the golfer plays a bunker armed with sand-wedge skills, he or she can cope, even excel, in these inevitable shots.

Two bits of advice: take a wide stance firmly in the sand with an open face on the club, and take sand on your accelerated shot forward. Using these tips should help pop the ball out of the bunker.