Poipu Bay Update and a Golf Tip

Kauai’s Poipu Bay golf course will be closing in April for eight months to convert from Bermuda grass to salt water and hurricane resistant Paspalum turfgrass.

Paspalum, also designed to provide a more consistent and faster putting surface, has been around for over 30 years, and is popular both in Hawaii and other island locations.  It is already installed at Kauai’s nearby Kiahuna course as well as at Princeville’s Makai course.

Recently, friend and local golf pro Luke Shanahan wrote about two of the other Kauai courses he loves most, Puakea and Prince.

Luke also has a new golf tip to tell you about, this time on technique:

You’re supposed to bring back the club “low and slow,” right?  Wrong.

As Tour Tempo author John Novosel points out, even the syrupy swing of “the Big Easy,” Ernie Els, isn’t really so much slow as it is fluid and athletic.

1.  Hit fast.

Tiger Woods’ coach Hank Haney advises, “Most people swing the club too slow. Most people hit hard, not fast. You want to hit fast; as fast as possible.” According to Haney, the old adage about “slow back” is “nonsense.”

This doesn’t mean you should jerk the club back either. But it does mean that, if your swing has left you—or if it mysteriously disappears as you walk from the driving range to the first tee—the problem may not be that you’ve picked up your tempo, but that you’ve slowed it down, trading in a backswing for a back-lift.

2.  Try this drill.

At the range, try speeding up your backswing progressively, while maintaining balance, relaxed shoulders, and maximum extension (hands away from the head). Trade in speed for strength, hitting fast for hitting hard. Start with a sand wedge and work up to driver. Watch PGA pros during a tournament, and try matching their tempo (if in your living room, save the lamps and use an imaginary club). You might be surprised how quickly a quicker tempo can dial in your swing.

About Luke Shanahan.

When he’s not golfing, Luke is co-author of a new book Deep Nutrition, and the drcate.com alternative health and nutrition website.  Following his love of cooking and nutrition, he is currently writing a cookbook based on The Four Pillars of World Cuisine.

Luke studied creative writing at the University of Iowa workshop and earned his MFA from the University of Arizona where he won several awards. Since retiring from teaching college English, Luke has been a freelance writer for The Pacific Journal, the Garden Island Newspaper, and organizes creative writing and screenplay workshops.