Poipu Bay - Hole #16

Getting To Know: Poipu Bay Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Craig Sasada, Director of Golf

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Craig Sasada who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Poipu Bay is an 18 hole championship course situated on 210 oceanfront acres. Designed by Robert Trent Jone Jr., this links style course features spectacular vistas and rugged ocean bluffs. Poipu Bay Golf Course was home to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 1994 - 2006. During this 13 year run, Tiger Woods was a participant 8 times winning seven of them.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf On The Island, Why Should They Play Your Course?
A Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that will be enjoyable for both the novice or scratch player. This ocean front course was built in 1991 with no intention of building any homes around it. Thus providing the great mountain and ocean views.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Wind is usually a factor here in Hawaii so don't be afraid take more club against the wind and swing a little easier producing a lower ball flight with less spin.

We changed out our greens here back in 2010 to a seashore paspalum hybrid (supreme). The biggest difference going from bermuda to paspalum would be grain with bermuda being grain dominant. With the new paspalum greens grain is much less thus producing less break.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
GolfWeek Top 100 Resorts Courses GolfWeek top courses to play in Hawaii Golf Magazine Silver Medal Golf Resorts

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The 16th hole is our signature hole here at Poipu Bay. This dog leg left par four measures over 500 yards from the back with the Pacific Ocean to your left and fairway bunkers to your right. The teeing ground is elevated with the normal trade winds at your back helping with this demanding tee shot. A long second shot will require precision into this very long green measuring 150' from front to back. A par on this hole is very good score.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I think my favorite hole here is the 18th. It is a risk reward par 5 that has water in play on the second shot should you go for it. If in position to go for it in two making birdie or even an eagle may be a possibility. However a bogey or double bogey is ever looming with water in play.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The course record here is 59 shot by Phil Mickelson in the second round of the 2004 PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6956
Slope: 128
Rating: 74.5

More Information
Poipu Bay Golf Course
2250 Ainako St.
Koloa, HI, 96756
808-742-8711
www.poipubaygolf.com

Revised: 05/06/2015 - Article Viewed 36,041 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.