Pro Tips

Playing golf in the Islands offers some different challenges, not experienced elsewhere. That’s why we asked our PGA Director of Golf, Greg Nichols, to give some advice to players new to Ko Olina.

Trade winds:

The prevailing trade winds come directly from the northeast, in the direction of Diamond Head. If you stand on the first tee at Ko Olina and the wind is against you that means the tradewinds are blowing. If the wind is at your back, then the Kona winds are blowing, so named since they come from the south. “Kona” means south. As you might imagine, the wind’s direction will have significant impact on club and shot selection.

The key to playing in the wind effectively is making the right club selection and to try to always make the wind your friend. In other words, don’t fight it! When playing into the wind, take plenty of extra club and always swing within yourself. A hard aggressive swing puts more backspin on the ball causing it to fly higher and be more affected by the wind.

As the Scot’s would say, in the breeze, swing with ease! The same truth holds for down-wind shots. Try to estimate the affect of the wind and choose the correct club.

A crosswind will always magnify the direction of your ball - a slight fade can turn into a monster slice. So the key to playing into a crosswind is to try to work your ball against the wind. If the wind is a slice wind from left to right, then try to draw or hook your ball into the wind and vice-versa with a wind from right to left.

Again, remember that the wind can be a friend if you allow for it!

Sand:

You will find that most of the golf courses here in Hawaii have beach sand.

It may play a little differently from what you're used to because it tends to be more granular and firmly packed. Luckily, you can avoid the dreaded plugged lie with this type of sand.

Since the sand tends to be hard-packed, a sand wedge designed with minimum bounce will work best. Too much bounce will tend to deflect or “bounce” off of the firm sand and into the ball resulting in ‘skulled’ shots, shots that fly over the green rather than land softly on them.

If you’re not sure of the bounce on your club, check with the Golf Shop. You also will want to avoid opening up the face of your sand wedge a lot since that creates additional bounce on your wedge. Good luck and remember you came to Hawaii to spend time on the sand.

Uneven Lies:

Swales and hills are a big part of Ko Olina's design and can make for some uneven lies. Remember to adjust the level of your shoulders to match the level of the slope.

You will also need to adjust your balance to match the slope. On downhill lies, it’s natural for your weight to be more on your downhill foot. To balance this out, try to place a little more weight on your uphill foot. Then, take a practice swing or two to see where the bottom of your swing is and then try to match your ball position to that bottom point.

Multi-tiered Greens:

At Ko Olina, a majority of our greens have multiple tiers. If you’ve missed the green on your approach, then getting it close to the pin will be a real challenge. A high-lofted pitch shot has a very small landing area to be successful.

I would encourage you to consider chipping the ball with a lower lofted club to deal with these conditions. Keep the ball back in your stance, keep your hands slightly ahead of the ball to deliver a downward strike and always accelerate through the ball.

Reading Greens

The greens at Ko Olina are Bermuda grass and tend to have “grain” in them. “Grain” means the tendency of the grass to lay over, or to grow in a particular direction.

A putt that is “down grain” will be faster and run farther than a putt of the same distance “into the grain”. The best way to tell which direction the grain is growing is to look at grass on the edge of the cup. The grass will appear to be browner or slightly frayed on the side of the cup that is down grain so putts in that direction will be faster.

Here are more hints about grain. Generally speaking, the “grain” tends to grow in the same direction that the prevailing trade winds blow. The same is true for the setting sun. Looking for an easy landmark? Most of the time, the grain is running in the direction of the Ihilani Resort and Spa Hotel.

All of this advice will give you a bit of insight when you play golf here at Ko Olina Golf Club.