E BALL CLEANLY FROM A
BUNKER]

It is difficult to advise as to the stance that should be taken for a
niblick shot in a bunker, inasmuch as it so frequently happens that this
is governed by circumstances which are quite beyond the golfer's
control. He must learn to adapt himself in the best possible manner to
the conditions in which he finds himself, and it will often happen that
he is cramped for space, he may be unable to get a proper or comfortable
place for one or both of his feet, or he may be obliged to stand with
one foot--generally the left one--considerably above the other. But when
there are none of these difficulties besetting him, it may be said that
generally the stance most suited to a stroke with the niblick is similar
to that which would be taken for a long shot with an iron, except
perhaps that the player should stand a little nearer to the ball, so
that he may be well over it while making his swing. The most important
respect in which the swing differs from that of the iron is that the
club is brought up much straighter. By this I mean that the head of the
club should not be allowed to come round quite so much, but throughout
its course should be kept as nearly as possible overhanging what we have
been calling the A line. The swing, indeed, is much more of what I call
an upright character than that of any other stroke in the game, and at
the top of it, the blade having passed over the right shoulder and the
golfer's head, the shaft should be nearly horizontal and right over the
back of the head, an example of which may be seen in Plate LIII., where
I have a fairly good lie, but am rather badly bunkered for all that,
being only a couple of feet from the base of a high and tolerably steep
bank.

If there is such a thing as an average bunker shot, this is the one, and
I am now describing the method of dealing with cases of this and similar
character. There must be no thought of hitting the ball cleanly with the
club in a case of this kind, or in any other than the most exceptional
situations or emergencies when bunkered. The club must hit the sand, and
the sand must move the ball, but the iron blade of the niblick must
hardly ever come into contact with the ball. To prevent its doing so,
and to ensure the blade getting underneath sufficiently to lift the ball
up at the very sharp angle that is necessary if it is to surmount the
obstruction in front of it, the sand should be struck at a point fully
two in