Kiawah Island #1 with Golf World Readers

Kiawah Island Golf Resort has been selected as the country’s No. 1 resort in Golf World magazine’s inaugural “Reader’s Choice Awards.” Augusta National Golf Club is the No. 1 private golf course and Grand National Golf Club in Opelika, Ala., part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, is the No. 1 public course.

The entire rankings will be published in the Oct. 17 issue of the magazine. The top 50 public courses are on the magazine’s Web site (www.golfdigest.com). The top 50 private courses will be posted today while the top 50 resort courses will be posted Monday.

The rankings are based on voting on 13 criteria, including quality of the course, conditioning, reputation/prestige, value and pace of play.

The Kiawah Island Club is No. 44 on the private list while Yeamans Hall is ranked No. 47. Chechessee Creek in Okatie was the only other South Carolina course to make the private rankings at No. 16.

Other state resorts making the resort rankings included No. 25 Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island; No. 34 Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club in Conway; No. 35 Pawleys Plantation on Pawleys Island; and No. 43 Daufuskie Island Club and Resort.

South Carolina had four courses in the top 50 public category. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Plantation, both in Pawleys Island and both designed by the late Mike Strantz of Mount Pleasant, are No. 10 and 16, respectively. The TPC Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet is No. 23 and Tidewater in North Myrtle Beach is ranked No. 42.