All golf courses are difficult for those playing poorly. Others have difficulty bred into them. When the professionals take on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island for the PGA Championship next week, they will be playing the most difficult course in recent major-championship history. - Derek Duncan, Golf Digest
The Ocean Course, designed by Pete and Alice Dye, is known for both its beauty and its brawn.
Dye wrote in his autobiography that he immediately fell in love with the site for Kiawah Island, calling it “one of the greatest pieces of seaside property in the United States.”
“The combination of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean on one side and the vast saltwater marshes on the other captivated me,” he wrote.
How good was the land? Kiawah Island was awarded the Ryder Cup before the course was built. The matches were originally scheduled to be held at another Dye design, PGA West’s Stadium Course, but were moved to the East Coast to better suit television audiences in Europe.
“For the first time in history, the heralded event had been awarded to a course that did not exist and there was less than two years to build one worthy of the event,” Dye wrote.
Sean Martin, PGATOUR.COM
