Hole-by-Hole Review
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Hole 1
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort opens with a relatively short par-4, giving the player an opportunity to get their round off to a good start. This may be the narrowest fairway on the course. Still, there is plenty of room between the waste bunker that guards the right side of the fairway from tee to green and the thick dune grass that borders the left. A good drive will leave a short iron to a gently undulating green tucked into a natural dune area with a generous opening from the left. A pond stretches halfway down the right side, but doesn’t come into play.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
This hole is the farthest away from the ocean. We did everything we could, environmentally, to clear an old sand ridge on the left and make this hole as open as possible off the tee. There is a mammoth amount of room to hit driver, so just hit it. The better players will hit driver and 8- or 9-iron. The green is at ground level and everything on the left bounces into the green. It should be an easy starting hole.
Local knowledge:
No. 1 is one of the easiest holes on the course. Feel free to use a driver off the tee but a 3-wood is plenty. There’s plenty of room to recover, especially from the waste bunker on the right. The left side of the fairway gives the best angle into the green. It’s a good hole to get a round started with a possible birdie.
Hole 2
From the back tee, the golfer is as far from the Atlantic as The Ocean Course permits, yet the view from here looks right into the rolling surf, framed between ancient live oaks that line both sides of the fairway. From the tee, the player will have to decide how much of the salt marsh he wants to bite off with his tee shot. Then, after a good drive, he will face another option – lay up short of a finger of marsh that bisects the fairway some 125 yards out from the green or fire across the hazard with a long iron or fairway wood. Either way, the third shot will be a delicate one to an elevated green set between two dune ridges, front and back.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
This is the biggest diabolical thing on the whole golf course with two crossings over marshes -you can’t touch those wetlands here - so that will make it a more difficult hole for guests. However, the good player has a wide-open fairway and the green should be reachable in two. There’s no water around the green, nothing but sand.
Local knowledge:
This is a real test of a par-5 and a very good risk/reward hole. Most players take a driver off the tee (especially from the blue tees) to set them up for their second shot. Bite off as much as you dare. Hitting the drive right sets up a lay-up short of the waste area bisecting the second shot’s landing area and a 5- to 9-iron to the green. Bite off more on the drive and a player can clear the waste area and have a pitching or sand wedge to the green. Much depends on the wind, though. The hardest part of No. 2 is the third shot. The green is very narrow and long and can be quite intimidating. You can hit a moderately good first shot and get away with it. You can even hit a moderately good second shot and get away with it. But, if you don’t hit a really good third shot, you’re looking at bogie or worse.
During 2002’s renovations, Pete Dye is adding fairway landing area for the tee shot and bulkheading the second marsh crossing about 110 yards out from the green.
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Hole 3
The shortest par-4 on the course, the third hole may be one of the most intriguing. From an island-like tee, the player fires across the marsh to an extremely wide fairway with anything from a driver to a long iron. Don’t be deceived by the generosity of the landing area; the best drive is one that finds the plateau on the left side of the fairway. From here, the player gets the best look at the putting surface, elevated similarly to the fairway plateau and framed by two old live oak trees that guard the approach. Even a half-wedge shot to No. 3 can be treacherous as the green slopes off to all sides, with marsh again coming into play on the left.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
This is one of the most unusual holes on the course. I flattened a sand dune somewhat and put the green on what was a sand dune next to the marsh. Better players will be going at it with a 9-iron or pitching wedge to a flat table-top green, which is elevated. They can let it fly off the tee. It’s probably one of the widest fairways on the course.
Local knowledge:
Positioning your drive on this hole is very important. You want to be on the upper tier on the left, leaving you almost level with the green. Drive it to the right and you will be faced with a shot to an elevated green. Taking wind into consideration, a player’s concern for the second shot is “don’t be left” as the marsh is there to catch the shot. Shots long, short or right of this tabletop green tend to find the collection areas making for a very difficult up-and-down. If you miss the green and are chipping back into the wind, you stand a better chance. If you miss the green and are chipping with the wind, that means trouble. Tom Kite called No. 3 the best short par-4 he’s ever played.
The most striking aspect of this outstanding hole is its elevated, tabletop green. For the Ryder Cup it had tightly mowed Tifdwarf grass fringe on the green. Resort players were going back and forth for an hour trying to get the ball to stop on the green. Changes made to the approaches and a rough collar in 1997 greatly increased its playability for the average player. If they miss the green, they can now get a sand wedge/lob wedge under the ball and stop it on the green.
Hole 4
Two marsh carries are required to master what can be the toughest hole on the outward nine. Off the tee, there is a very wide landing area. Then, depending on the wind, the second shot to a large green can be played with nearly any club in the bag, from an eight iron up. Playing against the wind, players may opt to bail out to the left of this green and try to save par with a chip or even a putt from the extended collar area. Ranked as one of Golf Magazine’s Par 2000 “Best 500 Holes in Golf.”
Pete Dye’s Comment:
The tee shot opens up left to right, with at least 170 feet of the fairway to hit. This is one of the longer 4s from the back tees; players will have to let it fly. It’s strictly a driving hole. There is a bailout area in the front left of the green. If the pin is on the left side of the green, you can bounce it on.
Local knowledge:
This hole is just hard. It requires a good drive for a chance to reach the green in two. However, long-hitters should beware of driving through the fairway, especially downwind. There’s more room on the right than appears from the tee. The best angle into the green, however, is from the left side of the fairway. Then, expect to hit a mid- to long-iron, depending on the wind, into the green.
During 2002’s renovations, Pete Dye is adding landing area to the left side of the fairway and three pot bunkers to the right. This turns the hole more left-to-right, giving a better angle into the green.
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Hole 5
After four holes to the east, the course turns back to the west for its first par-3. With the Stono River Inlet and Folly Beach to his back, the player surveys an hourglass shaped green running away diagonally from the right. A sandy waste area runs from the tee to green ending in a steep face that cuts into the middle of the hourglass. Because of the green’s size, it is important to take the club that will reach the correct half of the green and avoid a putt over a large hump in the middle.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
The majority of time, the wind is out of the southwest and off your left shoulder. It’s a great big green, about 10,000 square feet. It’s so big; it’s really two greens. The better player will go at it with a 3- or 4-iron. The wind will be the only factor. There is a bailout area on the right for a guest player and even he should come out with par. But there’s sand on the front-left side of the green.
Local knowledge:
A great strategic hole. Plenty of room to bail out on the right. It can tease you with a pin on the left. It is a gigantic green, running away from the player left to right. There can be as much as a 3 to 4 club difference depending upon pin location.
In 1997, quite a bit of turf was added to the left and the back of the green. It used to be very narrow there. The white tee was also enlarged providing more options for the average player.
Hole 6
Three wind-pruned live oaks frame the far side of the fairway on this par-four. The perfect drive is one directly at the center oak with a slight draw, eliminating trouble in the form of a waste bunker and small pond to the left. The approach is played to a green open in front, but protected left and right by more sand.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
This plays best right to left off the tee, with wind off your left shoulder. It’s one of the most demanding driving holes from way back, the fairway only 120 feet wide with sand on both sides. The landing area is not very generous. But there is nothing in front of the green so you can roll a ball onto it. The green is not elevated, but has a severe bunker on the left, two-thirds of the way back. It should be no problem for the better players if they drive in the fairway.
Local knowledge:
While most of the holes place a premium on driving, the hardest part of this hole is the second shot. Players must be on the right part of the green to score well here. It’s a very deep green with a lot of undulation.
In 1997, quite a bit of room was added to the right side of the approach. While most players won’t notice the change, it greatly improved the esthetics of the hole. The fairway was also enlarged all the way down the right side.
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Hole 7
Unlike the first par-5 where caution will temper most second shots, wind conditions will determine the strategy for the tee shot as players must decide whether to carry a natural dune area that intrudes into the fairway from the right or to play left of it. Once that decision is made, the second shot can be fired at a slightly elevated green that is open in front. The seventh will be an exciting tournament hole, where even a birdie may not always win the hole.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
Whether into the wind, across or with it, the better players will feel as if they lost a shot if they don’t make 4 here. The fairway is monumentally wide, 180 feet, and bunkering and grass mounding around the green is not severe. They’ll go for this green in two, definitely. But the green itself is a challenge. It has a pretty good amount of contour. The green doesn’t have much change in elevation from front to back, but there is a major dip in it.
Local knowledge:
A great wind hole in that it can either be one of the hardest on the course or one of the easiest depending on the direction of the wind. Into the wind, if you hit a driver off the tee, the bunker on the right comes into play. It forces you to lay-up and you end up hitting a wedge into the green.
This is definitely a risk/reward hole and is one of the best chances to birdie on the front side. There is a tree and water on the right side of the green and a waste bunker running down the left side of the fairway and around the back of the green. In 1997, the landing area was enlarged somewhat. Up by the green, however, the fairway narrows quite a bit.
Hole 8
The eighth is a seemingly simple par-3 that will become more demanding the further the pin is cut into the green. That is because this elevated green, framed by tall live oaks just off its front left corner, becomes narrower as it extends away from the tee. Any shot missing long or right will find the sand, so the rule here may be to attack the front pins but play to the center of the green otherwise.
Pete Dye’s Comment:
The only key here is the front part of the approach to the green is short mowed grass. Downwind, players will have to hit it short hoping it bounces up there. Into the wind, it’ll be an easy hole, but downwind it could be a nightmare. The water behind the green shouldn’t come into play.
Local Knowledge:
Eight is a tough risk/reward hole depending on the pin placement. The back right of the green is definitely a “Sunday placement.” If the pin is back, you’re looking at up to two extra clubs. The back third of the green is about 3 feet lower than the front two-thirds which means a very testy little putt if you have to negotiate the hill.
But, this is a hole where you can’t be long. It’s a teaser hole where players generally play to the left side of the green.
In 2002, two of the three trees on the left of the green were removed due to disease.
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Hole 9
A strong par-4, demanding two solid shots, closes out the front nine. A wide fairway sloping down from the right makes driving length more important than direction. However, the second shot needs to be straight to find a gently elevated green that is open in front but presents plenty of tough up-and-down chances from an assortment of grassy swale and deep sandy bunker-like areas both left and right.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
This sets up right to left off the tee. Most of the better players will try to hit a roper because of the way it sets up. The big deal on this hole is that the green is a little bit offset, so the ball has to be turning right to left on the second shot or they’ll have to carry it to the green. Downwind it’ll be a driver, 7-iron, but into the wind it could be a driver, long iron.
Local Knowledge:
It’s a hard hole no matter how you slice it. Drive position is key. Even with a very wide fairway, it looks intimidating. The fairway drops off the end of the earth on the right. Players want to keep their drive down the left side, flirting with the bunkers and leaving yourself the best shot at the green. Drive it to the right and you have a hard time getting home in two.
Assuming you hit a good drive, you need to miss the green short because a tricky up-and-down awaits left, right and back. The green is elevated with two waste bunkers on the left and a pot bunker behind.
In 2003, Dye altered the bunkering inside the dogleg tempting the longer hitters to cut the corner.
Hole 10
A drive down the center or left-center to the crest of the fairway will set up a second shot to a green set down in the dunes. A sandy waste area to the left front of the green and a deeper, steep-faced waste bunker to the back guard the green that can be attacked by a variety of shots.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
This tee is elevated atop a sand dune, and you can see the whole panorama of the back nine. The driving area is very liberal. The green is at ground level, and the fairway rolls right into the green. The better players will hit driver and short irons and feel they ought to birdie it. It’s very comparable, but in reverse direction, to No. 1.
Local Knowledge:
This is a good solid golf hole. While the drive may look intimidating, there’s actually plenty of landing room as turf was added all along the left side of the fairway in 1997. This is a big risk/reward hole aiming over the waste bunker off the tee. If you miss, you’re staring at the bunker’s huge wall forcing the player to lay up. If you can get it over, players have a short wedge down the length of the green.
While laying a drive out to the left may seem like the smart play, it means hitting over a waste area to a slim slice of green. A collection area behind the back left of the green was added in 1997 for shots through the green.
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Hole 11
With its serpentine fairway looking something like a backward ‘S,’ No. 11 requires the golfer to avoid bunkers that guard the inside of each turn. The area to the right of the driving area is especially troublesome because of its depth. Two good shots should set up a short approach to a deep green set high atop a dune ridge and guarded in front by more deep bunkers. If this hole is playing downwind, a good second shot could set up a run at an eagle.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
A strong par 5, but here again the driving area is very liberal. If you hit a bad drive, sand dunes on the right are very severe. Players must hit the fairway, but there’s no reason not to. The second shot must be placed in a very narrow area to get into position to pitch to the green. The green is slightly offset and they’ll be coming at it sideways. It’s an elevated green and drops off sharply. But holding the green should be easy, except from the right-hand side of the fairway.
Local Knowledge:
This is a good par-5 with a lot of risk/reward. Dye’s 2003 changes tempt the better player to go for this green in two and makes the hole a bit more forgiving for the average resort player. Dye made substantial changes to the transition areas on the right side of the fairway, reclaiming some of the original bunker lines. This will give the average player a better chance at recovery if their ball slices into that area.
Dye also changed the greenside transition area to the left of the green by reclaiming some of the fairway at around 70-100 yards out but adding a pot bunker just short of the green to catch those attempting to reach the green in two.
This is the hole that caused Annika Sorenstam’s loss in the Shell Wonderful World of Golf matches in 1998.
Hole 12
Perhaps the widest fairway on the course gives way to one of the narrowest approaches at No. 12. A good drive here sets up a downhill second shot to a green guarded closely on the right by the canal, with the dunes and thick native grasses framing the left and rear. Though narrow, the approach is open in the front, with a rolling collar area providing some room to miss the left.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
Another wide fairway, but miss it right or left and it’s disaster. The fairway rolls right into the green with a marsh bordering its right side. You don’t realize how much of an opening there is going into the green - 90 feet wide or so - but it appears to be very narrow from your second shot area. The key is to carry your second shot to the green as undulations in front of the green makes a bump and run tricky.
Local Knowledge:
While the previous two holes are birdie opportunities, No. 12 isn’t. There is a very large landing area for drives since fairway was added on the left in 1997. Additionally, quite a bit of roughline was added close to the large drop-off along the right side fairway. Prior to 1997, the rough was cut close. The added roughline catches balls before they drop over the edge. This greatly increased pace of play eliminating many lost balls.
The strongest part of this hole is on the approach shot. The approach is severely downhill. There’s a big undulation on the left center of the green making it a tough up-and-down. A collection area on the back of the green was also added in 1997 for shots hit through the green. Again, finesse on your second shot is key.
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Hole 13
From the back tees, the canal is definitely in play as the tee shot must carry across the hazard to reach the fairway. Just how far down the canal the tee shot carries is up to the player. On the second shot, the canal continues to be a menacing factor, swallowing up even the slightest push. Again, the approach has been left open to the run-up shot. Players electing to take the “safe” route away from the water may find one of two deep, pot-bunker-like waste areas guarding the left side. A classic “Cape” hole.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
There are definitely two different holes here. One hole is way back, 470 yards, and the landing area is very wide, about 180 feet. There’s marsh on the right side of the dunes. You have to play it left to right off the tee. The green, again, comes right out of the fairway with no elevation change and there’s 70-80 feet to run it onto a green of about 7,000 square feet. It’s a severe golf hole from 470. But I built another tee, 400 yards or so, with a very narrow landing area. Players might get timid and hit an iron off that tee. It’s a good hole from either tee.
Local Knowledge:
Another risk/reward drive. You can bite off as much as you dare. There are two fairway pot bunkers that come into play as well. The green, with water on the right and bunkers on the left, is long and narrow where pin placement can make club selection problematic. From the whites it’s a very short hole but has a very narrow landing area. The rear Tournament tee box was greatly expanded in 2002, providing a multitude of options for tournament setup.
In 2003, Dye altered the fairway pot bunker, removing the dunes grasses, elevating it and splitting it into two bunkers making it much more visible and, if hit, more challenging.
Hole 14
Since the sixth hole, the course has been playing to the west. But at No. 14, The Ocean Course makes a turn back to the east for its finishing stretch directly along the beach. The first par-3 on the back provides a spectacular view of the ocean. It appears that a tee shot rolling just over the green will find the surf, but actually a shot missing the dramatically elevated green will leave a severe uphill chance at saving par. Players planning their misses will favor the right side, where even a putter can be used to negotiate the steep, but closely-chopped green side contour.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
This is just a big old par-3 green with plenty of contour and a big mound in the middle. But all of a sudden, now, you have a change of pace with the wind. The green is elevated equal to the height of dunes on the ocean side. This hole - after the flat greens at 12 and 13 and the change in wind since the course is going back eastward now - will make players think. They’ll likely need between a 2- and 4-iron to hit the green.
Local Knowledge:
The tee at No. 14 is one of the most dynamic ocean views on the course. It’s also one of the most nerve-wracking views to an elevated, table-top green with trouble nearly everywhere. The only place you can miss it front right. Miss it anywhere else and you’ll have a hard time recovering. There’s quite a bit of room behind this green but it’s a tough up-and-down.
Players can hit almost any club in the bag here depending on the wind and the tee placement. In 1997, both the white and the red teeing areas were enlarged allowing more teeing options in different weather conditions. Like on No. 3, the grass on the approaches was changed in 1997, making it easier for resort players. This may be one of the best designed par-3 on the east coast.
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Hole 15
Most often, the short irons will be the scoring clubs at this medium length par-4, unless there is a strong wind blowing in the player’s face. The approach is to a green running diagonally away from the golfer from the right. Waste areas are left and back right of this green which is perched high on a dune ridge.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
There are two championship tees here, also, just like 13 only in reverse. There’s a big landing area from way back and the green is the same elevation as the fairway and you can bounce it in from right to left. It’s a small green, but very receptive on the right-hand side. Another tee at 395 yards gives you a very narrow driving area. It can play long or short like 13, but it’ll be with an iron if the tee is up.
Local Knowledge:
This is just a good, solid, straight up golf hole. A big landing area on a fairly short, incredibly esthetic par-4. From the white tees, players are standing right next to the ocean. Prior to 1997, there was no room behind the green so a collection area was added allowing players a recovery for long shots.
Hole 16
A straight-away par-5, No. 16 will require the player to carry his drive over a pond to reach a terraced fairway that is higher to the right side. A long, shallow waste bunker guards the second shot to the right, with another waste bunker, this one much deeper, guarding the left side of the green which is perched high on a dune ridge.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
It’s long, but the fairway is very wide. The left side drops down and leaves a blind shot to the second landing area. The advantage is to play down the right side and have a panorama of the second shot. Downwind, better players can reach it in two. There’s a big opening on the right side with a grass swale in front of the green. This is the best approach. There’s a big bunker on the left. It’s very severe looking and the green is elevated on this side.
Local Knowledge:
A good risk/reward from the forward tees where players can reach the hole in two. From the back tees, it’s a three shot par-5 unless it’s playing with a strong tailwind. The second shot landing area narrows down quite a bit. The toughest part of this hole is your third shot. It’s a very intimidating shot where having the correct yardage is essential. Into the wind, don’t be surprised with a long iron third shot.
There is a big transition area with a steep face up by the green. In 1997, turf was added to the right in the landing area and behind the green. Even so, there’s still not much room back there so accuracy is at a premium.
The area near the pond on the left side of the tee-shot landing area and the bunker in front of the green were cleared of dunes grasses in 2003.
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Hole 17
The variety of teeing areas spread around a lake on this par-3 allows for the green to be attacked from virtually 90 degrees. The target appears narrow, and is fiercely guarded by water to the right from the left tee, and a wide, but shallow green fronted by a lake from the right. Any shot that finds land here is a good one, although players bailing out long will have trouble getting up and down from the dunes. Par is a good score here.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
The tee shot is all carry over water, a very demanding par 3 and my favorite here. There are sea oaks and big dunes behind the green, which is almost a double green with a front landing area and a back landing area. There’s a small bailout area to the left of the green with water right up to the front. The green is big enough at 10,000 square feet and will call for a variety of shots, depending upon the pin positions and wind.
Local Knowledge:
Tons of teeing options on both sides of the pond. You’ll see a lot of players standing on the back tee to see what Ryder Cup players had to face, especially on windy days (however, it was never played from the far back tees). Wind plays a big part in the strategy for playing the hole. The bail-out area on the left was enlarged in 1997. Any dry shot is a good shot on this hole.
In 2002, the pronounced mound mid-green was softened, making the player shoot for the pin rather than play it off the mound.
Hole 18
Still with the Atlantic just to the right, the finishing hole is one of the strongest par-4s on the course. Driving to a fairway that rolls up, then falls away to the right, the best drive will be one that hugs the right side of the fairway. That will set up a second shot to an elevated green open from the right and running away to the back left. The wind will determine whether players fire at the flag with medium irons or simply try to hit the green with long irons or even fairway woods.
Pete Dye’s Comments:
You’re teeing off from original sand dunes along the beach. This has an elevated landing area to the same height as the original dunes along the beach. On the right side, it’s all sand to the ocean and that’s severe if you lose it right. The hole must be played left to right because the dunes on the right are much more severe than any other hole on the course. I think it’s the best of the par 4s on the course.
Local Knowledge:
A great finishing hole. Many believe its redesign makes is the best and toughest hole on the golf course. There’s a premium on the drive and on the second shot. The drive over the waste area is intimidating for the average player. Players are looking down at the hole for their second shot with a panoramic view of the ocean and the dunes in the background. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Players driving over the crest will see their ball run down the fairway to a point where mounds were created to stop their balls before they reach the rough. The green complex was moved approximately 25 yards closer to the Atlantic Ocean in 2002 and elevated. This move made this already challenging hole 6 yards longer. Into the wind, look for even the best players to pull out a long iron or more to reach this treacherous green.
In 2003, Dye reworked the bunkering on the interior of the dogleg tempting the better player to carry them to reach the flat of the fairway.
