Golf: 7 Reasons Why the Ocean Course Is the Hardest in the World

If you watched any (or all) of the recently-concluded PGA Championship on Kiawah Island Resort's Ocean Course, you saw that the Pete Dye-designed course was all anybody could have asked for.

It should be noted that in their Jan. 2012 issue, Golf Digest released its list of the "20 Toughest Golf Courses in the United States" and the Ocean Course was situated firmly at the top of that list.

I have played the Ocean Course several times and I am both amazed and beaten up every time I do. For a recreational player, playing the proper tees and concentrating intensely on keeping the ball in play are absolute musts.

It is an awesome test, one that every golfer should try to tackle once.

Check out my top 10 reasons why it's the toughest course anywhere.

There Is Always Wind on the Ocean Course—It's Just a Matter of How Much

The toughest part of the course comes on holes 6 to13. Why is that, you might ask?

Elementary, my dear Watson.

When players step on the sixth tee, they begin an eight-hole journey directly into the teeth of the wind.

On a relatively normal day (8-10 miles per hour wind speed), the holes are a bear. And not just because the player is playing into the wind. There's the added factor of the winds coming off the ocean and across the fairways.

When there's a strong wind, however, the holes become nearly impossible. Keeping the ball on those big, wide Pete Dye fairways becomes ultra-difficult.

Getting to the 14th tee—at which point golfers turn to play the last five holes into the wind—seems like an endless journey. The combination of those eight difficult holes, into the wind, makes it a brutal stretch for any level of player.

Being on the Correct Line Is Easier Said Than Done

The professionals who just endured a tough week playing the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort starting looking for the "lines" as soon as they got onto the course for the first time.

In this case it's not the lines of traffic that inched from Charleston the entire 26 miles to Kiawah Island.

The reference here is in regards to the lines that players want to take with their tee shots onto the fairways. Course designer Pete Dye laid out the holes in a way that the players had to think about where they wanted those shots to land and, just as importantly, what they wanted their shots to miss.

Does Paspalum Mean Anything to You?

The Ocean Course is described as one of the few real "links" courses in the United States. While it is a course that's hard by the ocean and the play is definitely affected by the ocean breezes, it's not a true "links" layout because there are few holes where players can bounce and run shots in to greens.

And even on the holes that were designed to allow that feature, the addition of a strain of grass called Paspalum around the green and in the green complexes made playing along the ground even more difficult.

The grass is a thicker, more sticky strain. Many of the professionals struggled around the greens with their short games.

Imagine how a 16-handicapper would fare with those conditions?

It's a Beach of a Thing: No Bunkers on the Ocean Course

When a golf course is built on top of and in and around a tract of land that is made up of sand dunes, then sand is going to be a factor.

At the Ocean Course, it has always been played that sand anywhere on the course—along fairways, greenside or even further offline—is considered a sandy area. There are no bunkers and as a result players can ground their clubs and take practice swings anywhere there is sand.

The pros, for the most part, didn't ground their clubs because this course is one of the few places they could do that and they didn't want to get out of their rhythm.

Now, going back to the other end of the spectrum, when the recreational players hit the Ocean Course, they'll think it's a big advantage to have those other options. But for the most part, those players aren't that good from the sand and doing those other things will do nothing to improve their poor sand play.

Getting off the Fairways Can Be Costly at the Ocean Course

When Pete Dye was designing the Ocean Course, his wife came out one day and suggested that Pete raise the course higher on the dunes so that players could appreciate the view of the Atlantic Ocean.

In doing so, some deep drop-offs and sandy areas were created along some fairways.

The professionals didn't like being there, but they were able to extricate themselves pretty easily.

From personal experience, a wayward tee shot into those places not only meant difficulty in getting down there, but also the need to be ever vigilant over the water areas and the inhabitants thereof. Oh yeah, and figuring a way to get back to the fairway.

You've Heard of Murderer's Row? Welcome to Holes 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

The Ocean Course can certainly lay claim to one of the toughest stretches of holes as any other big-time course.

Starting at the long par four at the ninth hole, players face another strenuous par four at the 10th hole. This is followed by a precision-required par five at the 11th hole, and then a shortish par four with water guarding the right side on the 12th hole.  After that is a beast of a hole at 13 that requires a tee shot across an area of water (followed by an approach shot to a green that's partially in that same body of water).

These holes are difficult regardless of what the wind is doing.

This collection is a round-breaker for any player.

The Trip to the Ocean Course Might Be Even Tougher Than the Course Itself

There's a two-lane road going out to Kiawah Island and a two-lane road going back to the mainland.

Once on the Island, the road that winds through the mature forests and multi-million dollar homes is four lanes, but is difficult to navigate.

One-way trips from Charleston to the resort sometimes took two hours.

That's something that will have to be addressed before another PGA Championship or Ryder Cup is held here.