PGA Head Professional, Andy Hinson

Awards

• 2014 HHI PGA Golf Professional of the Year
• 2013 HHI PGA Match Play Champion
• 2006 Golf Digest’s #3 Best Teacher in South Carolina
• 2000 Philadelphia PGA Assistant of the Year
• 1998 Philadelphia PGA Teacher of the Year

Biography

Andy is a native of Jacksonville, Florida and became a golf professional in 1984. After completing his golf apprenticeship in 1988 in Hilton Head Island, SC, he worked as an Assistant Professional in Highlands, NC and Rockville, MD.

Andy moved to Philadelphia, PA in 1993 where he served as the Head Golf Professional at Ingleside Manor, Teaching Professional at Meadowlands Country Club and as the Assistant Professional at Philadelphia Country Club. While in Philadelphia, he was rated the #8 Golf Instructor in Pennsylvania in Golf Digest’s “Best Teacher’s in the State”, was nominated for the 1995 Junior Golf Leader Award for the Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA, was the 1998 “Teacher of the Year” and the 2000 “Assistant Professional of the Year” for the Philadelphia Section of the PGA.

In 2002, Andy returned to Hilton Head as a Teaching Professional with The International Junior Golf Academy. He was rated the #3 Golf Instructor in South Carolina in Golf Digest’s “2006 Best Teacher’s in the State” and in 2014 Andy was awarded the “Golf Professional of the Year” for the Hilton Head Island PGA Chapter. He has also appeared as the featured instructor in USA Today and on PGA.com. 

Andy is married to the former Lori Wintrode of Danville, VA and his hobbies include reading, snow skiing and kayaking.
Playing experience:

• 1989-2001 Florida and Caribbean winter mini-tours – Multiple Top 10 Finishes
• 1991 PGA Tour’s Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic
• 1992, 1993 & 1995 Finals of the Rums of Puerto Rico Pro-Am
• 1992 Jamaica Open
• 1994 Finals of the Oldsmobile Scramble National Championship
• 1995 Middle Atlantic Section Challenge Cup Team
• 1998, 1999, 2001 & 2002 Philadelphia Section Dick Smith Cup Team
• 2010 & 2012 Honors Cup team for the Hilton Head PGA Honors Cup Tea,
• 2013 Match Play Championship for the Hilton Head Island PGA - Winner

Director of Instruction and Club Fitter, Frank O'Connell

Biography

PGA Professional Frank O’Connell is the Director of Instruction and Club Fitter. His role is to train active duty and retired military personnel, along with any civilian guests, on the most effective ways to play the game of golf. As the professional Club Fitter, his role will also be to outfit golfers with the proper equipment based on body type, swing style and their financial position.

A native of Westfield, MA, O’Connell began his golf career in 1990 at the Hickory Ridge Golf Club in Amherst, MA and became a member of the PGA of America in 1997. After moving to Scottsdale, AZ in 2004, O’Connell was voted a Golf Tips Magazine Top-25 Instructor and was awarded a weekly television spot on KPNX/NBC 12 and KNXV/ABC 15 Golf Tips show.

His reputation of being a knowledgeable and passionate instructor lead to an increase in students, many of which were mini-tour professionals. “My tagline of ‘hit better shots, shoot lower scores, and have more fun’ applies to all golfers, regardless of their skill level”, says O’Connell, “and when they have fun, I have fun!”

Also known as a top player, O’Connell has competed in four PGA Professional Championships, qualified for three Virginia State Opens with a Top-10 finish in 2018, and was an alternate for the 2005 PGA Tour Tucson Open. “In addition to his reputation as an instructor, I think that his students appreciate the fact that he is an excellent playing professional”, says Andy Hinson, PGA Head Professional at The Legends. “His students know that any coaching advice they receive has already been tested under the highest level of pressure”.

O’Connell is tasked with training some of the elite military personnel who already possess great athletic skills and are highly competitive. “I welcome the challenge of making golf a better game for all of my students”, says O’Connell. “Fortunately I am certified as a Level 1 TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) instructor, which will certainly help me relate to the men and women of the Armed Forces. But I have a feeling I’ll be learning as much from them, as they do from me!”

O’Connell has worked with all types of players from beginners to the much accomplished player. In addition to teaching, O’Connell has become an accomplished player himself, an alternate in the 2005 PGA Tour Tucson Open, qualifying for the Virginia State Open 2015, 2016 and 2018-T8 and A 4 time National Club Professional participant 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2017.

O’Connell will take the complexity away from learning. The number one issue golf instructors hear from students is "I would like to be more consistent". O’Connell has a simple philosophy, "The Basic Four Golf Groups", grip, posture, alignment and balance. These four fundamentals are essential for making a good athletic move. The posture that we have at set-up will tell us what we can and cannot do in the golf swing.