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One drill. One useful habit.
Set up.
Splash with confidence.
Your drill at a glance
This drill is from the Golf Practice Made Easy App.
Build a repeatable bunker setup. Use Rory McIlroy’s practice lines to organise your ball position and stance, keep your weight forward, then splash the sand with a committed swing.
Step 1. Watch Rory’s bunker lesson
Watch Rory explain his setup and the feeling of making a draw swing from the sand in this Me and My Golf lesson. Notice his open clubface, forward pressure and wrist hinge.
Step 2. Set up and splash the sand
Draw a practice T
Choose a normal lie in a quiet practice bunker and a reachable target on the green. Draw a line towards the target and another across it to make a T. Use the cross-line as a reference for your lead heel and forward ball position, as shown in Rory’s demonstration.
The directions below describe a right-handed golfer: the left foot is the lead foot. Reverse left and right if you play left-handed. Use these markings during practice, then rake them away when you finish.
Open the face and keep your weight forward
Open the sand-wedge face before taking your grip. Use the target line to check the shaft direction. Rory uses a setup that supports a draw-swing feel rather than deliberately cutting sharply across the ball.
Flare your lead foot and keep roughly 70% of your weight on that side. Stay forward through the shot, with enough knee flex to feel stable in the sand. Start with a modest adjustment in your aiming direction and check the result.
An open face does not guarantee a particular launch direction. Face angle, swing direction and the sand contact all influence the shot. Use Rory’s demonstration and your own results to refine the setup.
Set the wrists and splash through
Allow your wrists to hinge on the backswing. Then swing through the sand behind the ball, letting the wedge slide underneath it. Think of moving a splash of sand onto the green rather than trying to pick the ball cleanly.
Try Rory’s feeling of making a draw swing, keeping your pressure on the lead side and finishing the motion. The aim is a reliable splash and a useful landing, rather than forcing the ball to curve in the air. Adjust swing length to the target and the sand.
A worked example
“I’ll use the T to check my setup, open the wedge before gripping and stay on my lead side. I’ll hinge the wrists and splash the sand behind the ball, then check the contact and landing.”
Watch for these easy mistakes
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| Opening the face after gripping | Set the face first, then take your grip. |
| Rocking back onto the trail foot | Keep your pressure forward throughout the swing. |
| Trying to strike the ball cleanly | Enter the sand behind the ball and carry the splash through. |
| Stopping the club in the sand | Commit to a balanced finish. |
| Forcing a draw in the air | Use the draw feel to explore swing direction; judge sand contact and landing. |
Step 3. Complete your round
Complete 18 bunker shots in two sets of nine. Give each ball a fresh setup. Choose distances that suit your practice bunker and ability.
If you’re using the Golf Practice Made Easy App, tick one box in your Practice Round after each completed bunker shot. One completed shot is one tick, whether it finishes close to the hole or misses your target.
| Round | What to do |
|---|---|
| First nine | Hit nine shots towards one comfortable target, roughly 10 yards away if the practice area allows. Focus on setup and consistent sand contact. |
| Second nine | Hit three shots each to a short, medium and longer target. Keep the same setup routine and adjust swing length for the distance. |
| Record | Record shots completed out of 18 and one observation about sand contact or where the ball landed. |
Pause after the first nine. Keep going after a miss and use the next shot to test one useful adjustment. If you stop early, record what you completed and leave the remaining boxes unticked. Rake the bunker when you finish.
George’s Conclusion
I like the way the practice T makes your setup easy to check. Start with a comfortable target and learn what a clean splash feels like, then vary the distance. Keep your attention on the setup, sand contact and finish rather than judging every shot only by how close it ends up.
Compare Rory’s approach with the Jason Day Bunker Drill.
MAKE THE NEXT BUCKET COUNT
Pick a card. Practise with purpose.
