Best U.S. public courses – No. 6: Kiawah Island Ocean Course

October 11, 2008 by Danny Sillivant · Leave a Comment

The year-long countdown of the best two dozen public courses I have played in America continues towards a stunning climax in December. Now three quarters of the way through the year, I am closing in on the top spot! For more information on the countdown and criteria, see my first January post.

Number six on my list of favorite U.S. public courses is the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. This is one of those rare instances where there are three different but all compelling reasons why this course is awesome. First, the entire Kiawah resort is great, from the lodging to food to golf to service, and this is the crown jewel. It’s just a fun place to be, and a great part of the country. Secondly, it is physically beautiful: I always describe it as straight out of Jurassic Park. The course is carved out of this dense, primordial oceanfront swamp, with virtually no development in sight, and beautiful boardwalks everywhere. It is so pristine and untouched that you half expect dinosaurs to step out of the trees. It is better than ever now that Pete Dye returned and rebuilt eighteen the way he originally envisioned it (at the time the resort did not own the necessary coastline).

But what really sets it apart is the playability. That’s right, playability: Despite its fearsome reputation, a course the pros were so intimidated by that several refused to come back after a Ryder Cup so tough it was deemed “The War by the Shore,” the Ocean Course actually works well for all abilities. You do have to check your ego at the door and play the realistic tees, with only scratch players – who happen to also be long hitters – tackling the tips, and only single digits on the blues. Everyone else should be more forward. Of course the pros played most of the holes from special tees well behind the tips. But the course is a masterwork of design, with the carries and angle getting geometrically more difficult as you move back. Play the whites, enjoy; play the blues and throw your clubs in the ocean. It’s that kind of tract. But there are few PGA Tour venues (and now a Major venue with the long deserved PGA Championship coming) that you can enjoy at all, so by all means, enjoy!

Here’s a recap of the rankings so far:

No. 7: Shadow Creek

No. 8: Kauai Lagoons, Miele Course

No. 9: Lake Las Vegas, Reflection Bay

No. 10: Spyglass Hill

No. 11: Troon North Monument

No. 12: Red Sky Ranch

No. 13: Kapalua Plantation Course

No. 14: Primm Valley Lakes Course

No. 15: Classic at Madden’s

No. 16: Tobacco Road

No. 17: Pinehurst #2