The sand trap is the nemesis of the golfer. Sand traps are also referred to as bunkers. There's more than one way to get out of the sand, and knowing a few different ways are important because no matter good you are, it's inevitable that you will find yourself stuck in the bunker. Often who wins or loses depends on the skill of the person working their way through the bunker. Here are five quick tips to turn you into an expert sand trap player.

Tip 1:

Hitting the correct impact point is absolutely essential whenever you're playing from the sand. An excellent way to approach this shot is to visualize your ball sitting on a tee. By focusing on hitting the tee you'll chip the ball out of the bunker and find yourself exactly where you need to be.

Tip 2:

Use cupping to lift the ball out of the bunker. What you want to accomplish is lifting as little sand as possible without contacting your ball. When you contact the sand you should cup your left wrist. "Cupping the wrist" is a phrase used to describe the supination of the left wrist (for a right-handed golfer) at the top of the backswing.

Tip 3:

Draw a line in the sand approximately three inches behind the ball. Hit that line when you take your swing. This will help you avoid a very common mistake; hitting the sand too far behind your ball.

Tip 4:

Compare the lay of the land to the lie of the ball to assess whether to use an explosive chip shot.

Sand trap shots can actually be quite easy. You don't always have to have an explosive swing when you're trying to escape the bunker. You can play your way out with a very natural stroke.

First, examine the lay of the land and the lie of the ball. When you find that the bank of the trap is low and you have some putting area between the trap and the hole you'll improve your control by hitting the ball with the club head directly. Allow for some roll.

Tip 5:

One of the keys to controlling the trap is to follow through whenever you swing. It's natural to stab at the ball. This will generally cause your club to stop abruptly. The wetter the sand the harder the stop. If you follow through you'll find that 9 times out of 10 you will exit the trap!

As with all techniques you will need to practice. Instead of avoiding the bunker, take time to place your ball in the bunker and practice these tips. Always keep in mind the etiquette of the course. Step aside and encourage other players to play through so you don't hold them up.

By: Joseph Pahl
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What you will notice when you arrive at Territory Golf Club and make your way to the clubhouse is a rolling prairie landscape. What you will also notice is wetlands and streams running through the property. What you won't notice is an abundance of trees. This is what you see about the property from the parking lot. Because looks can be deceiving, what you will later discover is the tale of two golf courses. All of the hole on the front nine, as well as, holes 10 and 18 are situated on rolling prairie with a compliment of native grasses in the rough and other places that you are not supposed to hit your golf ball. Holes 11 through 17 are cut out of an oak forest that also features wetlands and streams along with some significant elevation changes.

Territory Golf Club plays to a par of 72 and measures 6,921 yards from the back tee markers. The course rating, from the back tees, is 72.9 and has a slope index of 125. There are four sets of tee markers, which means there is an appropriate yardage for golfers of all skills.

The management team consisting of Brock Swanson, head golf professional, Dan Stang, golf course superintendent and Dan Dols, general manager make sure that the players experience is outstanding. The course condition and the pace of play make Territory Golf Club a golf course that you will want to place on your list of places to play in central Minnesota. My playing partner and I played our round on a weekend morning and completed our play in just less than four hours. There were groups in front of and behind us and the pace of play flowed nicely.

The greens at Territory Golf Club are quite large, averaging nearly 7,000 square feet each and have significant undulation. These two factors make club selection as you approach the green critical. Just being on the green in regulation does not guarantee that you will have two putts for a par. My playing partner for the round described the greens a looking like "big potato chips" referring the random shapes as well as the wavy appearance as you walk onto the putting surface.

Another challenge at Territory Golf Club is the sand traps. The traps can generally be described as large, deep and having steep faces on them. Getting out of the traps successfully should be your first concern, getting close to the pin should be of secondary importance.

The back nine plays longer than the front nine with number 10 and number 18 being the two longest holes on the golf course. The par-3 holes are longer-range holes with the shortest playing at 170 yards and the longest playing at 245 yards.

If you are looking for a challenging golf course to play in central Minnesota I would certainly check out Territory Golf Club in St. Cloud. You can call for a tee a time at 320-258-4653 or visit their website at territorygc.com for more details.

By: Dana Buttenhoff
Dana Buttenhoff is an avid golfer and a native Minnesotan. After 20 years of golf and traveling around the USA, Dana would like to share the golf gems rural Minnesota has to offer: http://www.minnesotaruralgolf.com.

If you learn how to draw and fade a golf ball you will have added two extremely useful shots to your armory. Not only that, but it will give you an insight into how to control or cure a slice, should you ever develop one. The slice is the bane of any golfer’s game, yet the draw and fade are nothing more than deliberately played controlled hooks and slices respectively.

Imagine a situation where you have a shot into the green, perhaps 200 yards or so, towards a pin that has a trap or a water hazard just in front of it. You won’t be able to pitch and run the ball up to the flag, and to try and stop the ball dead would a bit risky. If you undercook it you are in trouble, and if you don’t get the spin right it could run on right off the green.

Imagine also that you have a pretty straight shot to the green, but there is a massive tree right in the way. What do you do? In both of these situations your ideal shot could be a fade or a draw, and which you use would depend on a number of factors including wind direction, the angle you want to approach the flag from and your own preference. The draw is a shot that curls right to left, just like a controlled hook, and the fade is left to right, like a controlled slice.

Your choice of a draw or fade might also be influenced by the fact that a draw is normally higher, and travels 15 – 20 yards more than a fade in windless conditions. So how do you decide and how do you play each shot? The decision is sometimes personal and sometimes dictated by conditions and circumstances. However, let us assume that you have decided on the shot. How do you play it?

Many golfers have looked in awe at pros who play the draw or slice at will as it suits their position. Many even play the curved shot as their preferred form of drive, unless a straight shot is essential. How do they manage that? In fact it is very simple, and if you have ever had a hook or slice that you have had to cure, then creating a draw or fade is just the opposite in many cases. You are best to practice these shots on the driving range since they take a bit of practice to control, and you can play both types of shot with the same club.

First play a normal straight shot, so that you know you have no inherent hook or slice in your game. If you do, then you will have to get it cured before you can do the same thing in a controlled fashion! However, assuming that your swing and drive are OK, then for the draw adjust your stance so that your feet are pointing to the right of the target. Then adjust your grip slightly round to the left, or counter-clockwise on the shaft. When you drive towards the direction of your feet, i.e. right of target, your adjusted grip will cause the club to close early so that when it hits the ball it will do so at an angle to the direction of the target.

As you drive through the ball this angle on the club will impart a counter-clockwise spin on the ball. The dimples on your golf ball will exaggerate the effect of the drag this spin creates so that there is more air pressure on the right hand side of the ball, the side rotating into the direction of travel than on the other side, rotating away from the direction of travel. The end result is that ball curves from right to left.

For a fade, you do the opposite. Aim your feet to the left of target, and adjust your grip clockwise on the shaft. This closes the club face late, so that a clockwise spin is imparted on the ball, and ball will curve out to the right. These curves are not immediately apparent, and could take about 100 yards or so to become visible, but they rapidly develop and can become quite severe if not properly controlled.

Although that is one way of spinning a golf ball to achieve the effect that you want, any other means of imparting a sidespin will do the same job. Lagging your chest behind your shoulders, or bringing it over the ball quicker than your shoulders will also spin the ball, and different golfers have their own way of achieving a draw or fade shot.

Knowing how to play such a shot deliberately is also useful in the event of you developing a hook or a slice since the cure is the exact opposite of what you do to manufacture the shot. If you have a slice, as many golfers do, simply aim your feet directly to the target and then turn your grip slightly clockwise. This will close the clubface quicker so that it is straighter to the direction of the target when you hit the ball.

This is true of many swing problems. If you learn how to control it, you can sometimes use that knowledge to your advantage in the event of being faced with a difficult shot that needs more that just a normal swing.

By: Andre Sanchez
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One of the most pleasant events that you can participate in is a golf tournament. It is also one of the most challenging, as a lot goes into the planning of this event that you may not be aware of. With golf being as well-liked as it is, many businesses and charities are using tournaments as a way to spike interest in their cause or in their operation. If you are in charge of planning such a tournament, remember that there are a lot of considerations to keep in mind if you intend it to be a success.

Golf tournaments require a lot of planning. One of the first things you will want to do is come up with a goal or outcome that you desire to come out of pulling off a successful tournament. This can work a number of ways, but one popular way to make this happen is to come up with a theme and gather information to support that theme. Within this theme, make sure that you remain realistic with your expectations and that you stick to your assigned budget as closely as possible.

Once you have a budget, the next step is to find a course. There are several things to keep in mind when choosing a golf course. First, you will want to make sure that it is large enough to accommodate the number of golfers you plan on inviting. Second, you will want to verify that their accommodations are fitting for whatever secular events you are planning in addition to the tournament. This includes an award ceremony, a luncheon, a banquet, etc.

Finally, you will want to confirm that the staff of the course is amiable and you feel that they can work with you. It's also important to make sure that if the course is unable to provide enough staff for that day, that you are confident that you will be able to find enough volunteers for that day.

The next step is to find some sponsors for your event. They may be able to donate items for an auction, or prize money for the winner. Once you have your sponsors committed to the project you will want to make sure that appropriate signage is made up for the day of the tournament.

Now that you have a purpose, a location, some sponsors and the general outline of the day planned it's time to send out the invitations. The invites for players and guests can be formal invitations that include the registration forms, or can be informal brochures. Whichever design you go with, make sure that the registration forms are included. Also, don't forget to include a fax number and a mailing address on the registration form so that they have options in getting the form back to you.

Some final details to consider are, do you want to have goodie bags for players, do you want to have a raffle, is there going to be an award ceremony? If you decide yes to any of those options, allow for the items in your budget and prepare for them ahead of time.

As you prepare for the day of the event, make sure you have farmed out the right tasks to the right people. Think about creating a checklist and get started early so that you can finish up any of the last minute preparations that you will need to make. Ensure that you have snacks, sunscreen, and any other extras so that the players feel welcome. You want to create a positive experience for the players and those small touches add up to a big picture of attentiveness from the host. Have fun, remember the theme, and stick to your game plan so that you can provide the best tournament in the history of tournaments. Confidence is key.

By: Nicholas Sy
For more information about golfing and golf vacations please visit http://www.TheGolfingVacation.com