The ball-first blueprint every golfer needs

Matt Fitzpatrick of England hits out of a fairway bunker in the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Use a simple visual cue like the pros, and transform your strike. Instead of staring at the back of the ball, focus on the front edge. — AFP

HITTING the green, or even just advancing your ball safely, from wastelands and fairway bunkers is one of the toughest tasks in golf.

It’s a shot most amateurs almost never practice, yet it demands precise ball-first contact. Catching even a few grains of sand before the ball can sap distance or leave you stuck in the hazard.