#24 - Kiawah: The Ocean Course - Painting a Picture

Allow me to paint a picture that will be familiar to any of the golf obsessed. It is the night before a round of golf you have been anticipating for a long time. The stress of travel is behind you. The driving and the flights all went as scheduled. The travel bags have done their job protecting the precious cargo from the indifferent baggage handlers. You have checked the weather app every hour for the past two weeks, obsessively worrying that a shift in the wind could spell disaster. You have read about the course and watched the drone videos showing every hole on the course with instrumentals and narration that may be more fitting for a war epic than a round of golf. The outfit for tomorrow has been meticulously laid out. You know you will dream of golf, but sleep eludes you as you anticipation swells.

Waking up the next morning in Kiawah, a heavy fog has descended on the island. The stillness of the day is surprising given the prior warnings of three and even four club winds. As we approach, the clubhouse emerges from the gray morning, with the statue of Pete Dye adorning his masterpiece.

From the driving range, a cart takes you over to the first tee. Opening with an innocuous par 4, a drive and short iron is all it takes to get off to a strong start.

With the fog obscuring our targets off the tee, 2 of us took the safe route while 2 chose the heroic.  The heroic path gives an extra 30-50 yard advantage, allowing the 2nd shot to carry the cross hazard leaving a wedge into the green.  Even though I had to lay up short of the hazard, my 8-iron cozied up to the pin for a tap in birdie.

Hole 3 is a second shot hole.  The landing area is somewhat blind off the tee but the goal is just to get a ball out there and safe.  The short approach is no bargain as the turtleback green slopes severely on all sides rolling away to collection areas, which Taylor unfortunately learned.  Joe, Leonard, and I got aboard safely in regulation but my 3-putt brought me back to even par, while the other two kept the pace.

Hole 4 is one of the hardest golf holes I have ever parred.  A cross hazard limits the distance you can drive the ball on an already lengthy hole.  The approach is a 200+ yard shot with a bunker sitting in front of the green ready to collect anything on the ground.  The extended fairway to the left of the green is a bailout area.  My hybrid cut connected purely and landed on the green, rolling just over but leaving a slippery putt from the fringe.  The 2-putt par felt like a birdie.

Hole 5 is a par 3 that heads back toward the ocean with a green that tilts left to right.  Placing the ball below the hole leaves a relatively easy 2 putt par.  By then, the morning fog had burnt off and a slight breeze had started to set in.

Hole 6 plays medium length with a generous landing area on the drive, with space in the right rough that is still safe.  My long approach landed on the green but a long downhill putt was hard to judge leading to another three putt bogey, matching the rest of the group.

Hole 7 has perfectly paced bunkering down the right side of a par 5 that doglegs to the right.  Everyone in the group challenged and carried the traps, but errant second shots from Joe and Taylor were lost and they were out of the hole.  Leonard and I came away with pars.

Hole 8 is a par 3 with a platform green.  The front right pin tempted me into trouble, with a good swing turning into a poor result as I just caught the slope and fed into the collection area.  Meanwhile, Leonard hit a similar slot but slightly to the left of mine, setting him up for his first birdie of the day.  Joe and Taylor continued to try to find their footing.

The final hole on the front 9 is an uphill dogleg left.  Joe immediately took himself out of the hole by hooking his drive, on his way to one of his worst stretch of 9 holes on his quest.  I was feeling very confident as my long birdie putt tracked all the way to the hole before cutting just across the front of the hole.  Closing with a 38, Leonard made a bogey to stay right on my heals with a 40.

A cart is waiting off the 9th green to take us past the clubhouse to the closing 9, stretching out and back from the clubhouse mirroring the front 9.

The 10th hole started well, with a drive over the steep bank of the waste area running down the right side of the hole.  The more aggressive you are off the tee, the better approach angle you have into a diagonal green.

Hole 11 plays as a 3 shot par 5, with a pot bunker 50 yards in front of the green waiting to swallow up aggressive 2nd shots and turn the hole into a disaster.  The green slopes dramatically from back to front, and staying out of trouble is the key to this hole.

The 12th hole is a simple test of nerves on the approach, with water lining the right side of and bunkers to the left.  Although we played in calm winds, this hole would be treacherous on a breezier day.

Hole 13 plays as one of the hardest on the course, particularly when playing into the wind.  The final hole With tees offset to the right of the fairway, the marsh creates a forced carry.  Two brutal sand traps on the left await the players, such as Joe, Taylor, and Leonard, who try to play the ball safely away from the hazard.  I watched nervously as my cut fell back toward the water, but it held on.  My approach to the back pin was right on target, striking the pin and missing eagle by a stroke of luck.  I sunk the comeback 10 footer for my second birdie of the day.

The course turns back home on the 14th.  While likely overshadowed by the picturesque 17th, the redan may be the best par 3 on the course.  The tabletop green leaves ensures that any miss will result in a bogey.  Hit the green in the right spot or make a guaranteed bogey, there is little room for recovery here.

Taylor’s butter cut on #15 literally found the beach.  The “strategic” play took the waste area guarding the front of the green on any approach from the left side of the fairway.  Had he not made a mess of his second shot, he may have escaped with a memorable par.

While visually dissimilar, the 16th is a par 5 strategically mirroring the famous 4th hole at Bethpage Black.  The drive runs out of room up the right side, while opening up to the left.  The further left you drive the ball, the further you have to carry the drive.  The second shot is risk reward, with a massive bunker short left of the green.

The 17th is a challenging par 3 over the water.  Taylor, Joe, and Leonard were safely aboard the green.  I hit a pure 5 iron right on track.  Everybody on the tee box, caddies included, was sure the ball was going in.  Sadly, the ball ran out of steam a foot short of its home.

The par 4, 18th twists back toward the clubhouse.  Oozing with strategic options, the more risk you take on the drive leads to a better angle on the approach.  Needing a par to remain even on the back 9, I hit my drive into a bunker.  After laying up 60 yards short of the green, I stuck a pitch to 5 feet and made the putt, finally breaking through with a superb quest round.

The Ocean Course is full of history and mystique.  Although we missed out on the legendary gusts, we had an outstanding day on the course.  From start to finish, the experience was top notch.  The course lives up to its billing as one of the great American golf courses.