Conversation with NEXT Golf Tour Winner Kim Koivu

Kim Koivu didn’t pick up a golf club for the first time until he was a teenager. Remarkably, he won three times on the HotelPlanner Tour (then Challenge Tour) about a decade later. Then came a shoulder injury, swing changes, burnout, and the exhaustion of trying to rebuild a game that once came so naturally. 

After five years of struggle on and off the HotelPlanner Tour, Koivu began playing the NEXT Golf Tour powered by Trackman–it’s given him new life. He won the first event of Season 4, making more money in one round in a simulator than he earned in the past five years on the HotelPlanner Tour.

He joined me from Helsinki, Finland, for a conversation ahead of the NEXT Golf Tour’s World Series.

Q: You’re in Helsinki right now—what’s it like this time of year?

Kim Koivu: It is dark. We only get about five hours of daylight—and it’s not sunny. The sun never really comes up very high. So the days feel long, and you’ve got to find some spice in them because otherwise it gets… I wouldn’t say depressing, but it’s dark. That’s why something like the NEXT Golf Tour is great fun, because you get to compete when it’s not so much fun outdoors.

Q: You started golf late. What were you doing before that?

Koivu: I always felt I was really good at soccer—football. I played for the junior national teams up until I was 16. Then my dad took me to the golf course when I was 15 or 16, and that was the first time I really touched golf clubs.

Q: How fast did you progress once you started?

Koivu: I dropped my handicap to zero in a year and a half. I was scratch when I was 18.

Q: How did you get good so fast? Coach? Training?

Koivu: Mostly by myself. I took maybe a few lessons, but it was mostly on my own. And I wasn’t trying to copy my dad’s swing because it wasn’t very good.

Q: How did you learn the basics—books, videos, just watching golf?

Koivu: I watched Tiger. I started around 2007 or 2008, when everybody was watching him. I got my first coach when I was 19.

Q: When did you decide you wanted to play at the highest level?

Koivu: When I was 18, I always had the dream of playing at the very top. That’s when I quit football and other sports. I’ve always had the ambition to play at the highest level.

Q: You had college success, but you’ve said it took time to really feel like you were excelling.

Koivu: I was an okay player in college. I won the Sun Belt Conference Championship, but I never really played well in the bigger tournaments, regionals—I never got into nationals. I really started playing really good golf in 2018, when I won three times on what’s now called the HotelPlanner Tour.

Q: One of those early pro wins came in China at Yulongwan. Was that a surprise?

Koivu: That was my third pro event. No, it didn’t feel like a surprise. I felt like I had done so much work before that, so I had a feeling I was going to start playing really well soon. Then everything clicked. I really liked the course in China. And from there it was a good couple of years.

Q: What was it like transitioning from winning on the HotelPlanner Tour to the DP World Tour?

Koivu: Once I got to DP, I was amazed by the other players because they were so good. And I felt like I wasn’t quite as good as some of the guys I saw.

Q: Was it a shock—like, “this is a different level?'

Koivu: I never felt like I couldn’t compete. I had a couple top-10s. But it just never felt like everything was there. It didn’t feel like I was good enough to be out there for a long time.

Q: A lot of guys get to a big tour and start tinkering—new voices, new expectations, sponsors. Did you feel that pull?

Koivu: Maybe a little. I had great sponsors, great management—can’t complain. But I don’t think I changed because of that. I had the feeling within myself that I needed to do some things differently.

Q: How much did the shoulder injury play into that?

Koivu: It started before, but then I made small changes and that really pushed the issue. After that I had to completely rethink the golf swing for myself—what my body is able to do. I’ve done loads of rehab and now I feel physically very good. I feel way more prepared now because I know a lot more than I knew the first time.

Q: Financially, how did you keep going through the injury years and all the uncertainty?

Koivu: I was lucky enough to make a decent amount of money the first two years as a pro. I haven’t had a lot of sponsors, but I got good support from brands like Puma, BMW for four or five years. And then in 2023 came the NEXT Golf Tour—and the money I’ve made there has really helped put together the budget for the upcoming year.

Q: Had you played much simulator golf before NEXT?

Koivu: 2023 was the first time I ever played simulator golf. A friend basically forced me to try it. I saw the money he was making and I thought, what else am I going to do? I’m very grateful to him for the rest of my life. Because otherwise, I really don’t know how I would’ve been able to keep the dream alive.

Q: So are you grinding the sim every day to prep?

Koivu: No. I don’t really play much on the simulator. If a NEXT event starts Thursday, I’ll start playing four or five days before and then play tournament rounds. I still try to work outside when I can. I try to limit time indoors.

Q: And yet your results on NEXT have been huge—wins, big checks. How do you view the experience overall?

Koivu: When I play the NEXT Golf Tour, I’m just trying to make as much money as I can to keep my dream alive. It’s been a blessing, to say the least. I’m so grateful for Trackman putting on these tournaments. And I know most of the players feel the same way.

Q: Kim, what are you looking forward to in the upcoming World Series on the NEXT Golf Tour? There’s a format change—36 holes. Is that a good thing for you?

Kim Koivu: I would say so. I’ve been quite consistent over the last two years on the NEXT. I think it should suit my game. I definitely prefer 36 holes over 18, because with 18 I feel like you get a little bit lucky. The more rounds you play, the less “lucky” you’re going to get in some ways. So I’m definitely looking forward to the championship starting.

Q: What has the NEXT Golf Tour meant for your career?

Koivu: It’s as simple as: it’s kept my dream alive of playing at the top level. It’s been a huge financial help for the past two years. I’m looking forward to playing well in the next four events we have left—so a total of eight rounds—and then I’ll start my outdoor season from that onwards.

I’m just so grateful for Trackman for putting these tournaments up and helping out the professionals—and also some amateurs that are trying to do the same thing as myself. So that’s how I’d sum up the NEXT Golf Tour.

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