Bunker
A sand-filled hollow on a golf course that acts as a hazard, most often placed to guard a green or to punish a stray tee shot.
Definition
A bunker is a shallow hollow or depression on a golf course that is filled with sand and placed as a hazard. A ball that comes to rest in a bunker usually has to be played with a specific technique to lift it back out onto the grass.
The rules treat a bunker as a special area with its own restrictions, such as not grounding the club in the sand before making the stroke. Course designers position bunkers to guard greens and tempting landing areas.
Where you’ll hear “bunker”
Sports that use this term:
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect Bunker to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Rules
Techniques
- Bunker ShotThe greenside sand shot where the club enters the sand behind the ball and lifts it out on a cushion of sand.
- Chip ShotA compact lofted shot from close to the green that carries a short distance and then rolls to the hole.
- The pull and the hookThe two cross-batted strokes that punish short bowling — how the pull and the hook differ, the height of the ball that separates them, and the risk each one carries.
- Putting StrokeThe short, quiet stroke used on the green to start the ball rolling on a chosen line at a chosen pace.
- Golf Full SwingThe complete rotational swing used for tee shots and longer approach shots, from setup through backswing to a balanced finish.
Facilities
Equipment
- Golf teeA small peg pushed into the ground to raise the ball for the first shot on a hole.
- Tennis ballA hollow rubber ball covered in felt used in tennis and related racquet sports.
- Golf clubA shafted club with a specialised head used to strike the ball around a golf course.
- Golf bagThe bag that carries a golfer’s clubs, balls and accessories around the course for a full round.
- Golf ballA small, firm, dimpled ball struck with a club and played toward the hole on a golf course.
Go deeper with Bunker
Everywhere else on the platform that covers Bunker — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
Take it away
Open data and the whole-platform view of this subject.
How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
Evergreen, first-party explanation — it makes no claim that needs an external source. How we handle sources and reviews.