Kiva Dunes Golf Course

Awesome course, wind gusts of 28 mph did everything it could to make life miserable on the course but the condition of the course made up for the weather conditions! One of the best in Alabama!

Spending the month of February at Kiva Dunes. I expected to get a heavy dose of the course and venture out occasionally to sample some of the other courses in the area.

But why bother…..

Kiva is such a joy to play. Turf conditions for this time of year are wonderful. Fairways are firm and fast, greens roll very well, tee boxes are better than average. If you miss the generous fairways you may end up in the native tree areas which are cleared of understory growth but do have many surface roots. Bunkering is both visually defining and strategically placed.

All said I’ll end up playing about 10 times this month and wishing I could’ve played Kiva Dunes every day.

Very straightforward course. Well maintained. Beautiful location. No real signature holes or anything that will surprise you. Make sure you look at how far the fairways run out on every hole or you will run through. Go play it and enjoy.

I played Kiva Dunes after a day and a half of rain and there were no soggy, wet, or standing water areas on the course. This is the best draining course in the Gulf Shores area. The fairways are always in great shape when I can find them and the greens are challenging and consistant.

I think it's a great course.

The course let out a group of 14 ahead of us in 2 groups of 5 and a group of 4. Said they play fast and not to worry. By the end of the round there were 2 holes opened. Round took almost 5 hours. There were no Marshall’s monitoring this so everyone had to suffer. I have played here several times and will play again but will be more aware of the situation. They should not let 14 guys have 3 tee times ever.

1st time in the Gulf Shores area and we played all the courses in a 40 mile range. This was the best by far. I shot 73 from the tips so I am very good at golf and know what a good course looks like. Over seeded fairways, perfect greens and wonderful pace of play. Felt more like a private club. only negative might be the routing. A little to back and fourth for my taste. Hole variety was solid with a nice mixture of length on the par 3’s. Par 4’s had some nice mixtures as well. The par 5’s were a let down with not a ton of variety but you can’t have everything! It was also great to hear the waves crashing the whole time, but it’s a shame the design never lets you see the water. This would have brought this course into another level. That being said anyone who plays here will have fun and enjoy the experience.

A great experience. Not for the faint of heart if you don't keep the ball in the fairway. Greens were fast but true, just the way they should be. Truly a great course that I would play many times over

This course was absolutely pristine!! The greens were immaculate and firm. They rolled well and had good speed, but were still very receptive to the ball. Fairways were some of the best i have ever played. Even the tee boxes were perfect. I played the back tees, and while distance was long(~7200), it did make it fun and challenging. There are tee boxes that would make this course great for any one!

I am a member at a very very nice club in the Atlanta area, and it pains me to admit that this course put my home course to shame. There was not a thing that Kiva Dunes didnt exceed my club in.

Im Hoping to get back out there soon!

Disclaimer: Drawn to the course by reviews. Used to playing golf in the Midwest with fescue and bentgrass. Not many "quality" courses in the area. Typically a walker.

I had higher expectations for this course based on reviews. The overall condition was VG. Greens were solid, hard and tough to hold on approach. One challenging water-carry hole on the course. Several tee boxes were covered in divots.

My biggest concern was pace of play and realize this is a resort course with the potential for higher numbers of high handicap players. Several groups allowed us to play through only to realize the group we followed in to the club house on 18 had at least one hole open in front of them. This was after the nice young man had a conversation with us about how their round had suffered from slow play.

I realize many courses face pressure in today's business environment and are troubled with rising labor costs and dwindling labor supply. Their were marshalls on the course,but all they did was drive the course in their carts. Courses need to step up and take charge of pace on their course. Pace could have easily been improved if the slow groups were required to allow other groups to play through.

Beautiful Alabama style links course, challenging but fair. You can score here if you hit it straight and putt well