Kiawah Island Golf Resort is a resortonKiawah Island, South Carolina, located along a ten-mile (16 km) mix of island and beachfront property approximately thirty miles (48 km) southwest of Charleston.
Opened in May 1974, the resort is home to The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, a Forbes Five-Star[3]/AAA Five-Diamond[4] 255-room hotel and spa. The resort also manages nearly 500 private villas and homes and has more than a dozen restaurants.
Best known for its golf courses, the resort also features the Roy Barth Tennis Center, which has 22 tennis courts and is home to the Barth-Hawtin Tennis Academy.
The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, designed by Pete and Alice Dye, provides players with views of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline and exposes them to the area's strong winds. The Ocean Course has consistently been named one of the best courses in the world by several publications, such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. It is also a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" by Audubon International for its design protecting native bird species. As of 2010[update], The Ocean Course was rated 25th in Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America.[5]
The Ocean Course is a par 72 course, and from the championship tees, it stretches to 7,876 yards (7,202 m) with a slope rating of 155 and a course rating of 79.1,[2] the highest in the country according to the United States Golf Association. Because of its large slopes, numerous bunkers, and challenging Bermuda grass, it was named the toughest course in America in 2010 by Golf Digest.[6]
The Ocean Course was featured in the 2000 film The Legend of Bagger Vance.[7] In October 2008, the Ocean Course became the first course to be available to play in the online video game developed by World Golf Tour. Helicopters equipped with cameras and GPS tracking devices were used to photograph and record the entire course to produce a geographically accurate simulation.[8]
The Ocean Course has hosted several major professional golf tournaments. The course hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup matches, dubbed the "War by the Shore". The United States team won 14½ to 13½. It was also the site of the 2007 Senior PGA Championship, the 2012 PGA Championship, and the 2021 PGA Championship. The Ocean Course was the fourth course to host each of the PGA of America's major championships: the Ryder Cup, the Senior PGA Championship, and the PGA Championship.
Located on the site of an old indigo and cotton plantation, this course is characterized by large fairways, challenging greens, and Scottish-style bunkers. The Kiawah River and Haulover Creek come into play on many holes.
