Pelz GolfDP4010 Bunker Board, black

Are you having problems getting out of bunkers?Stop the frustration. This is the product that will cure your ills. Watch the Pelz video. Your game will changem

Good little device to practice sand shots. It’s good. The problem was mine was obviously used and not a new device. You can see the scratch marks on it and something inside rattles around in it.

Heavy duty. Gives you the correct feel for short sand shots. Works great with the 3 day Pelz golf school.

Easy to use and reinforces good bunker play. Highly recommend.

great!

The media could not be loaded. I've worked in the golf industry the past four years, and have played for 55 years, so I've seen a lot of training aids. Dave Pelz is one of the most respected instructors out there, so when I saw this "Bunker Board" with his name attached, it seemed like something I should try out. I also sought the opinions of three PGA Professionals, and a couple of fellow recreational golfers, and have integrated their comments into the Pros and Cons listed.Although I've summed up my thoughts in the attached video clip, here's my list of PRO and CON aspects of the Pelz Golf Bunker Board:PRO:1. Looks and feels solid, and stays in place while in use.2. Small enough to fit into the long pocket of a standard golf bag, which makes it easy to carry along with your clubs.3. The product's website features a decent video demonstrating how to use it.4. The Bunker Board doesn't look dorky, like the outlandish training aids seen in the classic golf movie, "Tin Cup".5. When used as directed, the consistent result is a high, soft lob flying between 15-20 yards.CON:1. Biggest negative expressed by both the PGA pros and us recreational golfers was that the Bunker Board doesn't accurately replicate conditions in an actual sand trap. Take a look at the demonstration video on the Amazon product page. You'll notice that when you place your golf ball on a mound of sand on top of the target area, the ball is in effect "tee'd up". It's rare to see this kind of lie in a greenside bunker; usually the ball is embedded in the sand, or even looking like a "fried egg". So while the pros and I had no problem executing pretty nice lobs on every shot, making the same swing in a bunker resulted in over half "chunked" shots.2. Pretty much every golf instructor (probably including Mr. Pelz) will tell you to have the clubhead enter the sand no more than one inch behind the ball. The target line on the Bunker Board is a full six-plus inches behind the ball. Because you cannot dig the clubface into the board's surface, your wedge will "bounce" into the tee'd up ball. Do the same stroke in a bunker, and your ball will either go just a few feet, or fly into the lip.3. After about forty strokes, the Bunker Board's surface surface looked seriously gouged up. Since lots of repetition is needed to develop muscle memory, none of us using the board had confidence it would last the entire offseason.4. This is a minor negative, but it would probably be a real pain to keep a bucket of sand around, and if you have a nice lawn, expect to have it covered with that sand after 30 minutes of solid practice. (I had the benefit of using the Bunker Board at my course's practice range, with a plentiful supply of sand, but that negates needing such a training aid!)As I stated in my video, this Bunker Board didn't garner rave reviews from my test team. On the other hand, if you've got no reasonable alternative, at least you'll be swinging a club in a generally correct manner instead of sitting in your recliner, watching golf on TV.

I took the bunker board to my golf course's sand trap area. The board is made is of heavy duty plastic, which on one hand gave the impression of a full swing hitting out of sand while the stubs on the bottom held it in place. But the board started to show signs of wear after only ten sand shots shredding the board. In order to get the real feel of a sand shot you need fluffy sand and an area to swing, so practicing in my backyard is not practical. Any golf course has a free area to use, so consider that before you spend money on this bunker board.

I hate when I land in the bunker. A Bunker shot is my kryptonite, and I am lucky if I get out on the first try and get anywhere on the green. Usually I either blade it over the green, plop it short and end up still in the bunker, or if I am lucky, it lands somewhere on the green.So practice is the key to mastering shots from the bunker, but its usually difficult to find a practice bunker at the course.This emulates the act of hitting out of a bunker and allows you to help develop the muscle memory. It does work to an extent, but my feeling on it is that if you end up grounding the club on it, you don't get the same feedback as you would from a bunker. see its kind of like when you go to the driving range, you can hit pnety of good shots but on the course, its a whole different thing. For me any kind of mat will allow the club to impact it, and will help to keep the club on track. So its not a real world setup.But that being said this does allow me to improve my muscle memory of hitting out of a bunker, in particular, learning foot position, club position and aiming and really the swing speed and touch. so overall it does help, but its not some magic thing that will instantly improve your game. it will take practice.I really wish that this had come with instructions, I get pointing you to a video will be more beneficial, but sometimes a small instruction sheet and a pointer tot he video would be nice. I had to check the box to see on it written to go online to see how to use it.Another issue is the tag that says bunker board on mine was coming off fresh out of the package. so I assume thats just a quality control issue.Overall I give it a good rating because like any golf training aid, there is not any magical device that will improve your game, so anything that helps with training to make you better is welcome.