Beaten up at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course on Day 161

Posted by Jamie on 13 June 2010 | 1 Comments | Tags: Kiawah Island, Dye, South Carolina, links

"The hardest course I've ever played" is not a mantle thrown around lightly.  That said it's a no brainer bestowing it upon Pete Dye's Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, on the South Carolina coast.  A monster.  The 77.3 slope rating (it�??s a par 72) only tells half the story.  There�??s nothing on the scorecard about the strong winds that constantly blow off the Atlantic.  Or the Trouble right left and (sometimes) centre.  Believe me when I say that you�??ll be hard pushed to find a golf course anywhere that gives Kiawah a run for its money in the masochism stakes.

We picked Dodgy up this morning from the repair shop, in exchange for $950.  Apparently A/C compressors aren�??t cheap.  To be fair though Bill, the proprietor of Island Tyre in Hilton Head, came down from 1300 and saved us a few hundy �?? full credit to the man.  So with our finely tuned machine of a Dodge we bolted up the freeway to Kiawah, which lies about half an hour south of Charleston on the Atlantic Coast.  If any of you make it there, make sure you factor into your timing calculations the time it takes to drive from The Gate to your desired course or hotel.  A huge property...

Mike Vegas the PR guy at Kiawah kindly hosted us at the resort as his guests.  Through his hospitality we were able to play the famed Ocean Course (which has played host to �?? wait for it �?? the Ryder Cup, the World Cup of Golf, the PGA Championship...and others) and stay at the 5 Diamond Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah.  He also flicked us a souveneir polo shirt each.  I still can�??t quite believe it: what a place.

10 of the 18 holes border the Atlantic.  The front nine take you out to the North of the clubhouse; the back take you out to the south.  Oh, it�??s some clubhouse by the way.  As in one of the most plush I�??ve ever had the privlege of seeing.  It�??s how I imagine the famous old money clubhouses on Long Island to be.  Understated with sprawling views and silver spoon service.  Had I been a wealthier man I wouldn�??t have hesitated to splash out on dinner in The Atlantic Room, which looks out over the 18th hole and the great big ocean behind it.  At least I saved something for next time...(he tells himself)...

Back to the golf course.  The 1st must be the easiest hole on the course, as it should be.  It lulled me into a false sense of security that our decision to play the tips might not�??ve been such a bad one after all.  Ha!  I can tell you now that it was the first and last time that I hit an iron off the tee on a par 4 (or 5).  And I still couldn�??t reach half of the blighters in regulation...  But I�??ll get to that in a minute.

Mr. Dye has carved the course out of a coastal swamp.  So there are marshes and bridges and alligators and reeds and all sorts of nasty things to catch a stray tee shot.  I don�??t think it�??s a stretch to say that at least 80% of shots fired offline will result in a lost ball.  Some people might say it�??s too penal.  I�??ll sit on the fence for now.  Partly because we played the tips against good advice, making a tough course an impossible one.  Apparently even the big boys don�??t play it from the tips during tournament play.  I�??ll be watching on with eager anticipation in 2012 when they come back here for the PGA.  Good luck to �??em.

The best way I can describe the (golf) experience is this: you hold your breath before and during every swing.  Lesser men might cry.  Perhaps I�??m being a little dramatic �?? or perhaps not.  Y�??all can make up your own mind when you take the time to visit this stunning place.  And it is stunning, by the way.

The 3rd hole pictured above is a great little short par 4.  Open from the tee (relatively speaking that is), but deadly from the fairway �?? a plateau green sits atop sheer slopes on all sides.  Get even a 60 degree wedge shot wrong and you�??ll be using it again, as I was.  In fact, as we both were.  Brutal simplicity.  Things get even harder on the next, which I think was #1 stroke hole.  Wind hard off the right (from the ocean) on a long par 4 that doglegs left.  From the tee you need to pluck up the courage to aim at a string of huge deep pot bunkers pictured below, to allow for the wind to bring your ball back to the middle.  Then from the fairway you need to hang your ball out right over the marsh that runs all the way down the hole, unless you can hit a low cut.  Seriously hair raising stuff.

The 5th rates a mention too.  At 207 yards or so �?? straight into the teeth of the wind; over scrub and bunkers with water right and more scrub left �?? it�??s a walk in the park.  If by a walk in the park you mean the hardest thing you will ever in your life try to accomplish.  Goldy hit one of the purest iron shots I�??ve ever had the privilege to see to the middle of the green and 2 putted for a glorious par which must�??ve felt like an eagle.  I picked up...  Check out the picture below and decide for yourself how you'd play it.

It�??s after 5 that you turn back south towards the clubhouse and the back 9.  You don�??t then turn around to the north again until the 14th.  Along that treacherous stretch of golf the wind blew hard into us and from the left.  Which killed my draw and took about 30 yards off each shot.  The result being par 4s became par 5s.  At least the views were magnificent!  Those houses lining the inward side are quite something.  In fact �??houses: doesn�??t quite do them justice �?? notwithstanding that they�??re probably only second homes.  Just another world.

By the turn we were really working.  The decision had been made that we�??d walk, and a good decision it was too.  That�??s not to say that the elements combined with the punishment we were taking made for an exhileratingly brutal experience.  God we were having fun though.  It was almost like the satisfaction you get when you�??ve run a marathon: when your body hates you but the sense of achievement trumps the pain.  Who cares about what you score when you�??re doing battle with a course like The Ocean Course.  It�??s more about the journey than the result, at risk of sounding corny.

Had it not been for the waste bunkers Mr. Dye had the sedistic foresight to build my scorecard might�??ve looked more respectable.  By my reckoning they cost me half a dozen shots �?? so if you�??re playing at Kiawah, avoid them like the plague.  Really.  Once you get on the greens you have a chance at scoring, because they�??re pure and not lightning fast.  Just hard to read.

As we came down the stretch the sun was getting pretty low.  There was no one on the course either.  Breathing in the sea air I couldn�??t have been more content, truly.  A perfectly struck 4 iron down wind across the water on the par 3 17th (pictured below) was enough to bring me back, even though the birdie putt didn�??t drop.  Pars from the tips on that course are like birdies anywhere else.  

The 18th is a fitting finishing hole.  You stare down that beautiful clubhouse, take in a deep breath, and unleash driver for one last time.  Then you hope like hell you have a decent angle in to the well guarded green, and that the wind quits howling for a few brief moments while you punch a 2 or 3 iron in there.  

After the experience that was The Ocean Course our lot got even better, if that�??s possible.  As I said Mike arranged a couple of rooms for us at The Sanctuary (Forbes 5 Star Award; voted #1 Family Resort in North America by Travel + Lesure...blah blah blah �?? you get the picture).  When I say �??rooms�?� I mean a 1240 square feet Ocean Front suite (double king) each.  I feel bad even telling you guys about it, it was that dam good.  Such a shame that we only had a pithy 10 hours to spend there before we had to set sail for Charleston in the morning (8 of those of which were earmarked for sleep).      

As we walked into the lobby a woman was playing quite wonderful music on a grand piano by the bar.  Decadent furnishings in the front lounge caught my eye, as did the bar.  I was like a kid in a candy store.  For dinner we sat in the lounge with a burger & chips, and a copy of Links magazine each.  Then I retired to the desk at my suite to pen this ramble.  And I can�??t help but reflect that this has been one of the most stunning episodes of this year.  This really is some place.  A decadent, beautiful, exhilerating-and-at-the-same-time-therapeutic place.  I love it and hope to return some day with more time on my hands.  For now I'm just going to make the most of it.

Thanks Mike for putting on a magnificent 16 hours.  We owe you one!

Cheers, JP

P.S. Below was the view from my hotel room in the morning.  Terrible ay.