Kiawah Island’s famed Ocean Course is long, difficult and stunning. It’s also fun, just as long as you don’t mind getting your game (and pride) beaten up a little bit. But better yet, it’s public!
That’s right. As you will hear many times during the 2021 PGA Championship broadcast, the Ocean Course is at Kiawah Island Golf Resort — one of the resort’s five courses — and it’s easy for you to book a tee time. The Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course opened in 1991 and hosted one of the most memorable Ryder Cups ever later that year. The PGA first came there in 2012 (Rory McIlroy won) and it’s back for a second time this week.
For as much as we love to see glimpses of Augusta National or Shinnecock Hills or Oakmont through our TV screens, most of us will never play there. That’s what makes public major venues so great — the accessibility.
The Ocean Course ranked sixth on GOLF’s recently unveiled Top 100 Courses You Can Play ranking, only beaten out by other stalwarts like Bethpage Black (No. 5), Cabot Cliffs (No. 4), Pacific Dunes (No. 3), Pinehurst No. 2 (No. 2) and Pebble Beach (No. 1).
So how much will an Ocean Course tee time cost you? There are plenty of stay-and-play packages and discounts for those staying on property versus those popping in off the street, but the most you’ll pay is $463, which is the seventh-most expensive tee time on our Top 100 Courses You Can Play list. (TPC Sawgrass is the most expensive, at a $720 max price.) There’s also recommended caddie gratuity you’d have to pay, if you take a caddie, but a looper might not be a bad idea when playing a brute like the Ocean Course.
So, tee times anyone? Grab your own here. Just bring extra golf balls.
