Course Program

Pick your spot and trust your swing—bunker aim challenge

Aim for soft landing, for a 27-handicap player, ~20 minutes at Challenge

Short GameAll teesProgram HCP 275 drills

Program Snapshot

Handicap range

5 to 45

Average HCP

27

Duration (single session)

2 hr 9 min

or

1 drill/day: 5 days · 26 min/day

Ideal tee

All

Skill Distribution

Aim38%
Scoring13%
Precision13%
Distance Control12%
Dispersion11%
Accuracy7%
Alignment6%

Overview

Program Structure

Pick your spot and trust your swing—bunker aim challenge. Pick spot and trust and fly out and stop close. Focus on Aim, Scoring, Precision. For a 27-handicap player, in ~20 minutes.

Skill

Aim

Shot

Sand

What you will improve

  • Aim
  • Scoring
  • Precision
  • Distance Control

Program details

Sessions
5 focused drills
Recommended
2–3 sessions / week
Total duration
2 hr 9 min
or
1 drill per day
5 days · 26 min/day

Drill Framework

Program breakdown

Each drill is designed to prepare you for the course. Follow the program or repeat the drills to improve key areas of your game.

01

Sand | Scattered Ball Lines | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls in the sand (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal lines of 5 balls and stop sand shots close to multiple targets. Count the number of successes.

25 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Sand | Scattered Ball Lines | Multiple Targets
1

Put 35 balls in 7 straight lines, 5 balls per line, 2 feet apart, on grass or a slope, 20–40 yards from the hole, outside the green.

2

Put 7 flags or markers on the green, one for each line of balls.

3

For each line, hit the 5 balls from the sand, trying to make each ball stop within 10 feet of the flag for that line.

4

Do this for all 7 lines and hit a total of 35 shots.

5

Count each ball that ends up inside the 10-foot circle as a success.

6

Write down the number of successful shots out of 35 attempts in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions35
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252117131074
02

Sand Short

Short Game

Hit two buckets of balls (avg. bucket is 40 balls) from the sand.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Sand  Short
1

Find two spots in the bunker, each 5–20 yards from the hole.

2

Put a target on the green for the first spot.

3

Hit 18 shots from the first bunker spot, changing the target every 3 shots (pick 6 spots).

4

Move to the second bunker spot and do the same: 18 shots, change target every 3 shots (6 targets).

5

Try to get the ball as close as possible to each target.

6

Count a shot as success if it stops within 3 feet of the target.

7

Add your total successful shots out of 36 and enter score in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score302825201512853
03

Sand | Parallel Piles | Multiple Targets

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a sand shot closest to the multiple target(s). The player with the most points at the end wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Sand | Parallel Piles | Multiple Targets
1

Set up 10 piles of balls in two lines, 5 piles in each line. Lines are 3 yards/meters apart and piles in each line are 4 yards/meters apart.

2

Place these piles on sand between 5 and 60 yards/meters from the hole. All piles must be on sand, not the green.

3

Mark 3 targets on the green, spaced at least 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) apart.

4

There are 36 shots total, split into 3 groups of 12 shots.

5

Aim first 12 shots at Target 1, next 12 at Target 2, last 12 at Target

6

Hit each shot from a sand pile, change pile each time. Ball position and setup stay the same.

7

A shot is a success if it stops inside the circle or area around the target.

8

Do all 36 shots, 12 at each target, then count successful shots. Enter score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3028252218141074
04

Sand | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x

Short Game

Up to 5 players compete to stop a sand shot in the bullseye. The best final score relative to PAR wins the challenge. One bucket of balls per player is needed.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Sand | Parallel Piles | Bullseye 2x
1

Set up 10 piles of golf balls in two lines in the sand. Each line has 5 piles, 4 yards apart, and the lines are 3 yards apart.

2

Put the piles 20 to 40 yards from the green.

3

Draw two circles on the green around the hole: one with a 6-foot radius (birdie zone), one with a 15-foot radius (par zone).

4

Hit 36 sand shots: 18 shots trying for the small circle, 18 shots trying for the bigger circle.

5

Start at any pile. Hit one shot at a time, aiming for the zone you need.

6

After 18 shots at the small circle, switch to aiming at the big circle for the last 18 shots.

7

Count a shot as good if it stops in the target circle. Shots outside the big circle are misses.

8

Add up how many good shots out of 36 and enter your score in the app, out of 36 attempts.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score282624201612963
05

Sand | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones

Short Game

Scatter a bucket of balls in the sand (avg. bucket is 40 balls) into 8 equal lines of 5 balls and stop sand shots inside 9 Stop Zones. Count the number of successful stops.

26 minFocus: Short Game
Diagram for Sand | Scattered Ball Lines | 9 Stop Zones
1

Put 40 golf balls in 8 lines of 5 balls each in the sand, about 2 feet apart and between 20 and 40 yards from the hole.

2

Make 9 stop zones on the green using tees, string, or buckets. Number them 1 to

3

Split the 36 sand shots into 9 groups of 4 shots.

4

Pick one stop zone as the target for each group.

5

Hit 4 balls in a line toward the chosen stop zone, trying to stop them inside that zone.

6

Move to the next stop zone and repeat until all zones are used for 4 shots each.

7

Count how many balls stopped in the correct stop zone.

8

Enter the number of successful stops out of 36 in the app.

Scoring benchmarks

Repetitions36
Handicap+9+5+151219273654
Score3129262218141063

Next Step

Ready to start this program?

Start the drills at your own pace or work with a coach to inside drills.golf.