Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Oak Point, from a logistics and playability perspective, is a good jumping-off point for golf groups coming to Kiawah Island. It's actually located just off the island and you drive past it on your way in. It's also by many measures the easiest of the five courses. Designed by Clyde Johnston, the course has been renovated and improved a lot since it was originally acquired by the resort. It has scenic finishes to each side along the Kiawah River. The clubhouse lacks the amenities of Cougar and Turtle, but there is a solid practice facility here. Conditions are every bit as good as the other courses. Oak Point brings up the rear amongst the five resort courses but it's narrowed the gap in many ways in recent history and can build up your confidence before taking on Ocean.

There is only one Ocean Course at Kiawah, but there are two courses on the ocean. Nicklaus' Turtle Point has a unique stretch of holes from Nos. 14-16 that are tucked between the ocean dunes and some prized real estate. The remainder of the course is much flatter and winds through shady corridors. Turtle Point was the recipient of far more fairway thanks to the recent renovation, so if you haven't played it since 2015, you can expect much more playability off the tee.

Greens are generally raised with a lot of runoff areas that are shaved. I found that most of my approach shots that missed ended up on grass as opposed to bunkers.

The clubhouse F&B is excellent, including a bar with an expanded outdoor back deck with a great menu for both food and cocktails. It is a happening scene there especially on the busy spring morning I was there. Tomasso is also on sight for dinner that is a little more formal.

All in all, Turtle has spectacular views and exemplary facilities but I actually liked the 18 holes at Cougar Point a little more in totality.

This might be a contrarian opinion to many, but I think I liked the overall round at Cougar more than Turtle Point at Kiawah Island. Turtle has the ocean holes and a Nicklaus challenge to it, but I think what Gary Player has done at Cougar is a really wonderful example of a course that looks and plays great for a wider range of handicaps. There is more shaping and roll to the land, all the bunkers are huge and raised (they won't sneak up on you). There are some really fun doglegs and holes that wind around big, eye-popping oaks. The highlight actually comes in the middle of the front nine with three Kiawah River holes that are very scenic and fun to play.

It helps that I walked with two members and another visitor who raved about the playability. I think low-handicappers will still be challenged here but for seniors and higher handicaps, the greens are very large and receptive.

The big news at Kiawah is that Cougar will open a brand new clubhouse by Spring of 2019. So until then, the overall experience suffers with just a temporary trailer. The course's new turf suffered a little bit from winter storms and a few greens were in tough shape, but I get the sense that when the paspalum pops for the warmer months it'll be a distant memory.

The general consensus at Kiawah is that Osprey and Turtle vie for second fiddle behind the Ocean Course. I prefer Fazio's Osprey over Jack's Turtle for a few reasons, despite the fact Turtle has three oceanfront holes. Osprey has a lot of water and winds through lagoons and ponds with a few more open holes with long, marshy views. There are a few heroic carries on par 3s, none moreso than the long 11th, which we tackled into a strong wind. My favorite hole is the 9th, which has a lot of water left and golfers are tempted to drive over it for a short look into the green.

I love Fazio's shaping and there is plenty of room to hit the ball, as well as nice hole variety. If you can only play two courses at Kiawah, my vote is for the Big O's.

Big Pete Dye fan. Have played his courses all over the country. Ocean Course was on the bucket list. I'm from snow country so this was my first round of the year, so shooting a score wasn't really on the agenda. But just wanted to see how hard and scenic this place was.......

The clubhouse and staff are outstanding. Venue is incredible. Amenities in clubhouse were top notch. I had been on Kiawah Island all week and saw the other courses and they looked to be in wonderful condition (this was later confirmed by my playing partners). Weather was great, light winds. Met my playing partners----seem like nice people. Should be a fantastic, memorable experience on the course.

Meet my caddie, knock the rust off the Mizuno's and off we go to take the 5 minute ride to the first tee. Step onto the first tee and......

The course is sorta brownish? Hmmmmmm......

Tee it up, hit one down the middle and have 105 in. Wedge comes up short but hey, its early and nerves. Hit a little spinning chip to 2 feet. Kick in par. I'll take that on one of the countries toughest golf courses........

Continued to play golf holes, hoping for the course conditions to improve (they didn't), and waiting for the 'wow' factor to hit me. It just never did. To me this is not even close to Pete Dye's best work, nor is it that difficult. I hit 10 of 14 fairways (two I missed by a couple yards and two I pull hooked and chalked that up to the first round of the year yips). The wind, which the caddie said was a 'normal' day, was two clubs. Greens rolled well and were fast. Maximum break I had on a putt all day was a foot and a half. Most were two balls outside. This is tough course?????? Sure, if the wind blows 30 mph. Go play your muni in a 30 mph wind and tell me its a cakewalk. Any course is tough.

Ocean views???? Ok, the back nine, but the front nine was very ho hum. Sorry, I've seen more scenic. Bunkers were hard pan or "a little firm" as my caddie put it. I was is two that were unraked and getting out wasn't a problem but you had to catch in perfectly to keep from blading in over the green. Most high handicappers will struggle with that shot big time.

I'm sorry, but it just didn't do it for me. I think the people who are members there like to believe their course is the most scenic and most difficult course and that's how its portrayed, but IMHO, its not.

Save your money (a lot of money) and play somewhere else. The members will appreciate that and so will your wallet.

Caddie was fine, did a great job. Ever notice most of the scenic pictures of the course are overhead views? There's a reason.

It's easy to compare one golf course to another when there are five great public courses to choose from. I think it would be unfair to compare this course to the Ocean course. They're designed differently, and they play very different, and in fact you rarely see the ocean while on this course.

Course was in great shape and all the amenities and services that Kiawah does well are still true of this course. I didn't think the layout was that interesting. Some courses have very memorable holes that stay with you forever. Turtle really didn't have that for me. 7 was a nice par 3 over water, 14-16 are on the ocean, but on the whole I'll remember Turtle as a nice course, and a very good course, but not an all time great course. It plays very honest too - smaller greens require accurate iron play, but I felt you could get away with some lousy tee shots here.

Kiawah is a world class facility and the Ocean course met every expectation. Every hole is ocean view, and each presents a different challenge. And everything about the course was in perfect condition. Also, the bunkers on Ocean don't count as hazards, and they present a unique challenge.

From the moment I got to Kiawah, I was treated like a VIP. Staff was super friendly. My caddie was amazing and very helpful - these greens are really challenging and he knew exactly where to put the ball on every hole.

Superb practice facility, amazing food and bev and great pro shops. Can't recommend enough. Well worth the money. Hope to go back sometime.

You'd better bring your a game when you play this challenging course.

This course is really nice. They conditions were very good and wildlife were everywhere.

The layout has a nice variety of short and long holes. You will need to use every club in your bag.

The staff really made you feel welcome.

The layout of this course is very bland. Many of the holes are very similar. The last few holes near the ocean are very good, most of the others are forgettable.

The course is in nice condition, but this is my least favorite of the Kiawah resort courses.

Go play Oak Point, Osprey or the Ocean Course, don't waste your time playing this course.

This is hands down the hardest course I've ever played. That said, it's a tremendous golf course. The greens are fantastic. Not too fast and not a ton of break, so you can make some putts. The hardest part is off the tee. Pete Dye is so deceptive with sight lines, that you really have to trust the line and be aggressive. Everything about this place is first class. The views are amazing. The caddies are tremendous. I can't wait to go back.

This course is known for the brutal closing stretch of finishing holes by the shoreline, but I was amazed at how the inland beginning of the round resembled something out of an African savanna. The caddy I had was very helpful with clearly stating proper lines to take off tee, which is extremely important to scoring on this course. The entire course is mostly exposed, so plan on playing in windy conditions. Driver is not necessary off every tee. The fairways provided a great deal of roll out and greens were receptive to run-up approaches. I had read where the paspalum greens were tricky to chip and pitch to. I did not find that to be the case. The closing holes are spectacular, as advertised. Depending on the wind direction, the last 4 holes can play maddeningly long. The par 4 18th will play as a par 5 for most players. Wildlife is abundant on the course. The pro shop is one of the best-stocked I've seen, with a variety of options. The Ocean Course also provides the best "19th Hole" experience I've encountered to date. The Ryder Cup bar is fine, but I would highly recommend grabbing a drink and heading out to the lawn behind the clubhouse that sits beside the putting green and adjacent to the 18th green. You can sit in an Adirondack chair there and stare out at the ocean, watch golfers on the practice green or watch players finishing their round. Sunsets here are hard to beat.

The Ocean Course is definitely a bucket list course. If you are any where near Kiawah Island, knock it off your list.

I hope that you can experience this course on one if its signature windy days and I also hope you can play it on a calm day. It can be tough to take in the awesome views while you are grinding on a windy day.

Pics of Ocean Course

https://flickr.com/photos/92239680@N08/sets/72157633914033442

My favorite golf course I've played. The views are amazing, and the golf course can be tough. I enjoyed the challenge.

After playing almost 300 courses in my life and playing the ocean course 24 years ago and again today it is the best course I have ever played. The layout, the condition and the staff are all phenomenal. It is an amazing experience to play this course but make sure you play it from the tees that suite your game. The practice area is awesome the views are amazing and even the Ryder Cup Bar is the best 19th hole I have ever been to. If you're a true fan of the game and want to play the best of the best add The Ocean Course to your bucket list

We had the unique opportunity to play Cougar Point during tropical storm Bonnie and as you could imagine we had the course to ourselves. I will say that the course handling the water in amazong fashion. Other than a couple of spots on the greens late in the round this course took the 2-3 inches of rain like a champ. As for the course itself, last time we played it was in the 90's when it was Marsh Point and the changes to the course are fantastic. There are a lot more houses on the course now but they are well hidden by the trees and brush along the course. The one thing to be away of though is the vast amount of OB on the course, I felt like there were white stakes everywhere on this course which obviously changed my thought process playing this course and took the driver out of my hands more than once. The course conditions were A- to B+ with the draw back being some damage to a few of the greens but the tee boxes and fairways were perfect. The price, which I understand is the standard non-Ocean Course pricing for the island, is a little high for this course considering it's more than we are going to pay to say as we trek down to HHi to play Harbour Town but the experience, even playing it in a tropical storm, was a lot of fun.

Excellent conditions. Putting was fast and true. Better course for me than Oak Point but both were excellent and in excellent condition.

This was my first course played in Kiawah. Couldn't make it to the masters so the guys went to spend the weekend together playing golf and watching the Masters on TV. Great round with a fair amount of wind. The course was in excellent shape. The greens were very firm and fast but true. I was surprised that very often there was not a ball mark to repair on the green. Very nice, staff was excellent.

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island is unlike any other course I have ever played and I absolutely loved it! From the moment we drove in, the caddies assisted us with our bags and answered all of our questions to make sure we took full advantage of our experience. The clubhouse was appropriately sized but incredible nonetheless. My buddy had the breakfast sandwich which he raved about the entire day and I had a turkey sandwich at the turn which was good. The pro shop was stocked with anything you could want and it was difficult not to spend my life savings in there!

As for the golf, words can't express how awesome this course is. However, I'll do my best. The range is flat and simple but the wind is treacherous and can really actually help you prepare for the fist fight of a golf round you're about to experience. Once we warmed up, our caddie took us on a cart to get to the first tee where we were dropped off and greeted by the starter. Shane was our caddie and I'm so glad we had him there guiding us through this course cause it was tough! The wind was gusting at about 20-30mph but it was sunny and 55 degrees so it was good weather just made certain holes play a LOT longer than normal. But others were downwind which gave us a slight advantage. The greens were super quick but rolled perfectly true, as you would expect on a big time course like this. I will say this, if the wind doesn't blow, this course can play fairly easy, as the fairways are open and there aren't many trees at all. But that's a big IF!

All golfers need to make the trip to play the ocean course at least once in their lifetime. It's a special place and is a blast to play.

Tip: Grab more club than you need and maybe one more. I never hit a shot that was too long but I definitely had a few that were short. Also, putt every chance you get because the majority of the grass is so closely mowed that it will act like a green and chipping into the wrong spot can lead to high numbers quickly on these greens.