Landing in a green side bunker for many amateur golfers is like pulling teeth without Novocaine. It doesn’t have to be that way. Bunker shots are actually one of the easier shots in golf if you understand how to play them.

Think about it, when you are playing a bunker shot around the green you are not even trying to make contact with the golf ball. You actually want to hit about 2 inches behind the ball. There is no other shot in golf like that.

Playing golf over the years, I have noticed that many golfers don’t really have a specific way of setting up when they prepare to tee off.

They’ll tee the ball up; take a look from behind and step up to the ball, set the club behind the ball with the clubface facing in the general direction they want it to go and then line up their body accordingly.

As I have gotten a bit older, the gray hairs are a dead giveaway; I still expect to hit drives of 280 yards on a regular basis. The problem is that even though I feel like I am still hitting good solid drives, they are only traveling about 260 yards these days.

Not being one willing to sacrifice distance, I have been on a mission to find those 20 yards I lost. I know they are around here someplace; I just need to figure out where I left them. Man does it suck getting old! If you are like me, then you are probably dealing with this doggone distance issue.