Not all the rounds this week at Kiawah Island Golf Resort will be played with the Wanamaker Trophy on the line. In addition to the Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course, host of the 2021 PGA Championship, the luxe Lowcountry resort is home to four other 18-hole layouts, all of which will be open during tournament week. Here’s a snapshot look at them.
(Note: For all four courses, peak season greens fees are $262 for non-resort guests (not including taxes and resort fees) and $224 for resort guests. For Ocean Course pricing, click here.)
OSPREY POINT GOLF COURSE
Architect: Tom Fazio
Opening in 1988, Osprey Point began its life as a members-only club but now avails itself to public play. Marshes, lagoons and sandy waste areas ornament the layout, and though the landing areas are mostly generous, water comes in play on more than half the holes. In 2014, Fazio returned for a renovation, restoring bunkers, tees and greens that had been shifted out of shape by steady coastal winds, and converting the turf to salt-tolerant Paspalum, a key to the property’s impeccable conditions.
OAK POINT GOLF COURSE
Architect: Clyde Johnson
A player-friendly counterpoint to the fearsome Ocean Course, Oak Point runs gently over former indigo and cotton-growing land, with forgiving fairways, understated greens and back tees that max out at 6,701 yards. Located just “off-island,” it’s the first course you come to as you motor down Rt. 12 toward the resort and a good place to build your confidence before taking on a bucket-list test.
TURTLE POINT GOLF COURSE
Architect: Jack Nicklaus
Compelling design, Jack Nicklaus once said, should make a player “use his mind ahead of his muscles.” So it goes at Turtle Point, which first opened for play in 1981, then got a full face-lift five years ago. On its early inland holes, the routing curls around ponds and marshes that require clear-headed club selection, followed by crisply executed shots. The drama builds from there in a steady crescendo, reaching a peak on Nos. 14-16, a stirring stretch that brings you closer to the coast than even the Ocean Course.
COUGAR POINT GOLF COURSE
Architect: Gary Player
Where its siblings look out on the Atlantic, Cougar Point turns its gaze toward the Kiawah River, whose marshy fingers come into view on the 4th hole, and then figure prominently on the 5th and 6th. A well-regarded renovation in 2017 amplified many of the layout’s scenic features, while intensifying the strategic choices on a fine collection of risk-reward par-5s. In addition to that overhaul, the course also has an impressive new clubhouse, which overlooks the 18th green and makes for one of the island’s most resplendent hangouts.
