Kiawah Island Golf Resort - The Ocean Course

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is an 18-hole, par-72 championship course designed by Pete and Alice Dye. Located on the eastern end of Kiawah Island, it features the most seaside holes in the Northern Hemisphere, with ten holes directly hugging the Atlantic Ocean and eight running parallel to them.

The course's distinctive characteristic is its extreme exposure to wind. With no prevailing winds, Dye essentially designed two courses in one—one for easterly and one for westerly conditions. Players can experience up to an 8-club difference on holes depending on wind direction and strength, making it one of the world's most wind-affected courses outside the UK and Ireland.

Alice Dye's suggestion to raise the entire course above the dunes, rather than building behind them, provides unobstructed ocean views from every hole but significantly increases difficulty by exposing play to the Atlantic's unpredictable breezes. The course is ranked #4 among U.S. public courses and 25th among Golf Digest's 100 Greatest U.S. Golf Courses.

The layout combines strategic risk-reward holes with demanding approach shots and challenging greens positioned within natural dune formations and sand ridges, creating a formidable test of golf skill.