A late-March 7:40am tee time at Kiawah Island’s famed Ocean Course lends itself to an interesting experience in just getting to the golf course.
Our group arrived at the clubhouse about an hour before that tee time, as that is my preferred arrival time before a tee time. It is plenty of time to change into the golf shoes, loosen up, hit a few balls at the range, knock a few putts around without feeling rushed.
There was one small problem, however, with that plan: it was dark. Like pitch black.
Driving down the long, winding road with its overhanging oak trees that crosses the island made it even seem even darker.
For a person from New Jersey who is accustomed to at least a little ambient light and never truly experiences full darkness, it was jarring. But what about the moon and the stars, you may be asking. I’m sure they would have provided some light, if the deep fog suggesting an upcoming rapture wasn’t blanketing the island.
Upon pulling up to the bag drop, we met our caddies for our round, Kyle and Ryan, who noticed we were there before the sun even tried to make an appearance above the horizon.
After checking in (outside, in the dark), changing into golf shoes, and a quick look at the merchandise in the pro shop - don’t worry, we played two days in a row and made a more aggressive pass throughout the pro shop on the second day - it was time to head to the range.
By then, the sun was starting to make an appearance, but the fog stayed. Maybe it was better not knowing exactly where the ball was going on the practice tee. You know, to lower the expectations of playing well and shooting a good score. After all, this is a major championship and Ryder Cup course!
We played in March 2021 and the build out for the PGA Championship to be held that May was beginning. It is always a treat to play a championship course with bleachers, merchandise tents, and concession stands beginning to be constructed. For that round, the atmosphere makes you feel like a professional, even if your level of play and lack of golfing ability strongly suggests otherwise.
After a cart ride to the first tee - we unfortunately didn’t get the luxury vehicle treatment like the professionals do - it was time to put a tee in the ground and enjoy one of golf’s greatest walks. The fog still hadn’t lifted.
Because the first tee is so far from the clubhouse and practice area, there are certainly fewer nerves on stepping up to hit the first shot. That didn’t stop me from slicing one about 40 yards right into the waste area surrounded by oak trees. At the urging of my caddie - “it’s a trip of a lifetime, that didn’t count!” - I hit a breakfast ball that ended up in the left rough. That will play: we are off.
I can only imagine how difficult it must be to design par five holes in today’s era of incredible swing speeds and consistently improving technology. Pete Dye, however, designs great par fives, and that is evident at the second hole. A double dogleg around a tidal marsh and trees, the tee shot is to an angled fairway that begs players to carry their tee shot over a bunker - similar to a cape style. The longer the carry off the tee, the better the chance to avoid encroaching trees on the approach. A layup is complicated by a strip of marsh cutting through the fairway. The eighth, 11th, and 16th are the other par five holes and also have strategy and risk taking at the forefront of their design.
The third hole is a short par four with a table top green. I’d be lying that if I said on my second day I wasn’t playing army golf - left, right, left - falling off the green on my attempts (for lack of a better word) at a chip on the green.
My favorite hole on the front nine is the fourth hole; it may have to do with the fact that I birdied it, or just that it is a great hole. A longer par four, a marsh cuts through the fairway necessitating less than driver off the tee. With three deep pot bunkers on the right side of the fairway, an accurate drive is essential. A longer second shot is to a green with a bunker in front. It’s listed as the number one stroke hole on the course; needless to say my birdie gained some ground on the hypothetical “field.”
Just as we made it to the furthest point from the clubhouse on the front nine - the par 3 fifth hole - the fog began lift. The fifth hole has a great, visually deceptive tee shot. A waste bunker covers most of the left side of the hole, and a small pot bunker on the front right of the green subconsciously pushes golfers to take the longer carry over the waste bunker.
The marketing team at Kiawah Island suggests you can see the ocean from all 18 holes. That may be true… if you’re eight feet tall. On some (most?) holes of the front nine, the ocean seems farther away than it actually is, largely due to the fact that the first nine holes plays through tidal marshes and windswept oak trees. Regardless, the front nine is a great set of golf holes and a very enjoyable walk.
The back nine at the Ocean Course, though, is one of the best walks on a golf course I have experienced. On our second day’s round, we had a single join us to round out our foursome and his wife joined for the walk. Our caddie said to her after the ninth, “if you thought that walk was pretty, just wait.” He wasn’t lying. This set of holes is closer to the ocean and last four holes are parallel to the beach - and the beach is in play(!).
The back nine is not just a great walk, it is a great set of golf holes.
My favorite stretch of holes at the Ocean Course is holes 12, 13, and 14. The 12th and 13th are two wonderful par fours, and the 14th is a challenging par three that begins the journey home.
The Ocean Course is laid out in a figure eight design, with the clubhouse serving as the center and convergent point of the golf course. This means that holes five through 13 play in the same direction. While that means that wind can be in the same direction for nine consecutive holes - if that stretch is into the wind as it was when we played, those holes can be a bear - the angles of the holes are varied to provide intrigue and a slight lack of comfort.
The 13th is my favorite hole on the course. We played the course from 6,475 yard Dye tees - still a formidable challenge, but eminently playable and enjoyable. Standing on the 13th tee from our tees, turning around and looking at the championship tees about 120 yards behind us was eye opening. The drive, with a marsh carry, bunkers left, and a creek right, from our tee was intimidating enough; I can only imagine what it looked like from that back tee and if you could even see the fairway.
One challenge of the Ocean Course - besides the winds, difficult layout, and well placed hazards - is the lack of sight lines. Standing on the 13th tee, my caddie Kyle told me the line was “that gazebo about a half a mile in the distance.” Alignment is hard enough with easy and close visuals - now I had to aim at something that far away!? The hole hugs a creek on the right, and the green is pressed up along that creek. It is a classic Pete Dye hole.
The final four holes all play parallel to the beach and Atlantic Ocean. Tees and fairways are set amongst (faux) sand dunes. There is something extra special about golf by the ocean that is hard to describe. Maybe it is just the smell of the saltwater, or the extra testy winds coming off the sea. Perhaps it brings golf back to roots; a sense of nostalgia that every golfer has about the game. I’m not quite sure what it is, but the Ocean Course is a truly special walk and a wonderful place to play golf beginning on the 15th.
One hole that stands out - for better or for worse - on the course is the long par-3 17th. The tee shot demands a long carry over a pond (the only pond on the course) to a shallow green. Some say the hole doesn't fit in with the rest of the course; that certainly is a valid argument. But those golfers pulling off the heroic tee shot - the hole plays about 190 yards from the Dye tees - will have a great memory on the challenging closing stretch.
Walking up the 18th fairway is a great experience, especially if your tee time is later in the day. Fortunately, the second day we played the Ocean Course, our tee time was in the afternoon. The Ocean Course clubhouse is a hub of activity - it is truly a place on the island. Golfers, upon concluding their round grab a well-earned cold beer or cocktail, stand or sit on the lawn outside the clubhouse, and watch the groups after them finish their memorable day on the course. In addition, many resort guests enjoy the beauty that is the area, relax with a beverage, and watch the sunset.
The lack of nerves on the first tee is a debt paid with all the spectators near the 18th green.
And after we finished our round, we enjoyed an Ocean Course Ale (or two) and watched the groups behind us finish their walk. We met other golfers who were doing the same. We watched a large group of friends playing in a Ryder Cup style competition. We met golfers of all ages and all abilities who walked off the course defeated but with a smile on their face. I’m sure we looked like that too after walking off the 18th green.
It’s places and experiences like that that make golf special.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island has a reputation for being one of the hardest courses in the United States. But it also ranks as one of the best.
Play from appropriate tees (as you should at every golf course), and the course is most certainly playable, fair, and (dare I say) fun. We didn’t get lured into the trap of playing our normal distance or wanting to play all the way back “just because we were there.” The course is difficult enough it is, we wanted to make sure we had some chance to score and enjoy ourselves.
(As for how I played? Like typical golf: not as well as I wanted to.)
At the end of the round, after putting the flag in the hole at the 18th, my caddie Kyle said "enjoyed the walk." They say golf is a good walk spoiled. The Ocean Course is a magnificent walk with spectacular and compelling golf holes. Bad play here shouldn’t spoil the walk. Compelling architecture, a major championship course, and a spectacular setting is more than enough. And the Ocean Course has all that, and more.
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