Tom Blanckaert on Playing from Wet Sand (Video)

With so many tours playing in wet weather, this just seemed to be a no-brainer. How do you adjust to play from wet sand?



Tom's tips are very simple:

• Learn how firm the sand is by taking your stance. Obviously you can't "test" the sand by digging in, moving out and then taking your stance. But in the process of taking a normal stance in the sand, you will be able to tell how compacted the sand is.
• Use the front edge of the club, not the bounce. In wet sand the bounce will just make the club... well, bounce. You need to take a thin divot, not bounce off the sand and thin the shot. You can figure out how much less to open the face in the practice bunker before your round.
• Hit the sand closer to the ball. Tom says if you normally take four inches of sand, cut the distance to two inches. Since you're playing this more like a chip shot than a normal sand shot, you won't need to take as much sand.
• Don't swing as hard as normal. That's just simple logic, don't you think? Since you don't have to move a lot of sand, you don't have to swing so fast. Again, think chip shot rather than sand shot.

And don't miss the last thing Tom says. Since you aren't hitting the ball as high as a normal sand shot, the ball will roll a bit farther after it hits the ground.

Playing from wet sand isn't that much different than playing a chip shot from a firmer lie. Once you practice a little to get over the fear of it, it shouldn't be much harder than any other short game shot. Just practice a little!