So what is it that makes The Ocean Course so
special? To answer that question we must begin with a bit
of history.
Designed by Pete Dye, the course was specifically
built to host the 1991 Ryder Cup, famously known as the
“War at the Shore.” As an interesting aside, PGA West
was originally selected as the Cup’s venue but the TV
networks felt an east coast location was preferable
because it could be broadcast live to Europe. Dye
and his team worked tirelessly to meet the deadline
with a course that would demand the best of the best.
Hurricane Hugo nearly derailed the effort just three
months into construction, but the team was able to restore
the dunes and sea oats and remain on their aggressive
schedule.
In a conversation with Jason McCoy,
then head of construction and currently
Senior VP for Greg Norman’s Great White
Shark design firm, I learned that they were
the first people back on the Island after
Hugo, following behind the disaster response
front-loader clearing the roads, and incurring a flat
tire along the way. Dye himself is said to have
chartered a barge from a neighboring community
to get equipment to the site while the roads were
closed. The entire team worked 18-hour shifts
until the course was complete. Special care was
taken to preserve and feature the course’s natural
environment, including 14 miles of underground
pipes to assure that no runoff of pesticides and
herbicides would ever disturb the wetlands.
While there were certainly setbacks associated
with Hugo’s arrival, there was also a silver lining.
According to Jason the hurricane so changed the landscape
that the course was totally re-routed, bringing some of
the more magnificent oak trees into view and into play.
Finally, it laid the groundwork for the amazingly
beautiful venue that played host to Jason’s
wedding some 24 years ago.
Although most golfers, including
yours truly, know and admire Pete Dye’s
work, few are aware of the talents of his wife
Alice, also a renowned course architect.
She is credited with two of the most
important features of the course.
First, it was Alice who suggested
the lake over which golfers must hit
their tee shots on the famous par 3
17th hole. Perhaps more importantly,
she is credited with insisting that the
ocean be visible from every hole on
the course, resulting in the use of fill
to raise the level of visibility. Besides
enhancing the beauty of the course, this
adaption contributed significantly to its
difficulty, as it means greater exposure
to the variable, often extreme winds. It
also helped to alleviate concerns about
the damage that could be caused by
flooding from future storms.
Photograph courtesy of Kiawah Island Golf Resort
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