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Weekly Quiz!

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Fairway Bunkers

I have shared a ton of data around approach shots from the fairway, tee shots on par 4s and 5s, short game shots, etc…. One area that I have talked about a ton is fairway bunkers, but have not shared much data on those shots.

The table below shows how far shots from the bunker are hit (by skill level). For each yardage range, it shows the median distance the ball was hit. For example, a 10 index player from 140-149 yards, the median distance traveled is 125 yards. That means half the shots travel more than 125 yards and half less than 125.

All of this data comes from the nearly 900 million shots in the Arccos Golf database (use code DATALOU15 to save 15%).

My Thoughts

The table above is Exhibit A on why I stress you should aim away from fairway bunkers when you can. Hitting a fairway bunker makes it challenging to get it up near the green on your approach shot.

Sometimes you don’t even have a shot in the bunker and need to come out sideways. When you do have a swing, these shots are very challenging for us amateurs to hit. You are typically SO MUCH BETTER OFF being in the rough compared to being in the bunker.

I also want you to notice that for 10 index players and above, from ~130 yards to 209 yards they hit all of those shots “about” the same distance!

If you have room, do not hesitate to move your target well away from fairway bunkers. Your scores will thank you!

See you next week!

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