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To those of you who enjoy the good life, when visiting Kiawah Island, the pseudonym "Fantasy Island" really seems more of an appropriate nomenclature. Viewing magnificent homes owned by the reclusive crème-de-la crème from all over the world, playing first class golf courses that have embraced royalty, stars, and many well known golfing professional men and women, with major worldwide golf events played to the delight or chagrin, depending on the outcome, to a pulsating world audience, as well as five-star food service, world-class health spa facilities, tend to make this run-on sentence last forever.
Kiawah Island is located 21 miles south of Charleston, so one could enjoy the many "tourist" trappings of Charleston and still have ample time to play each one of the five visitor golfing venues Kiawah has to offer. In no particular order they are:
Cougar Point is a Gary Player designed property where the golfer part of Gary Player, architect, wanted resort players to enjoy wider fairways, non-threatening approach openings and relatively flat (not elephant burial grounds) greens. The different tee groupings help define the merit of either "target" practice golf or a more cerebral course management style. Although there are private homes and villas sprinkled throughout this pristine course, the usage of various strains of vegetation and trees, not only represent the Lowcountry theme, but don't give the golfer any sense of being an intruder to the homeowners. To be a player, one must experience a player (Gary, that is.). 
Esthetically, Fazio's placement of bridges, the introduction of meandering creeks, vegetation strategically placed to catch a stray shot while maintaining an indigenous Lowcountry appearance. Besides wildlife, there are plenty of alligators sun basking, who seem oblivious to the human elements. However, I decided not to get too close in case one of these snozolas perceived me as a "sandbagger." (Sorry!") Osprey Point Golf Club has the ambience normally reserved for the rich and famous, with the décor of its first class clubhouse, to the unmatched decorum of its highly professional and truly helpful staff. At the Osprey Course, although greens fees are in reason due to the season, you must pay for the privilege to Spray (your ball). Happy Trails. The experience is worth every penny.
What puts this magnificent layout over the top, is not only it's $7.5 million clubhouse constructed in a classic Lowcountry style, but its state-of-the-art driving range, providing futuristic target practice areas, both greens and fairways, designed to supplement Nicklaus' modernistic teaching facility. In short, Turtle Point's Golf Learning Center has made itself one of the premiere instructional destinations worldwide. Correct teaching techniques help to correct one corrections. (Get it!) Kiawah Island's seaside resort, the Ocean Course, is a traditional Pete Dye layout, appropriately named by offering breathtaking Atlantic Ocean views on the majority of its holes. In conjunction with his wife, Alice's, suggestion to elevate many of the holes for an unobstructed vantage point to highlight the Atlantic Ocean coastline, proved to be a stroke of genius. The Dyes were determined to integrate a means to tone down this challenging course, with subtle aesthetic and visual detail.
A $6 million dollar clubhouse was constructed in 1997, as well as coquina (sea shell) cart paths that are in play. The pas de resistance is the opportunity to walk a world class resort course with an experienced caddy included in the greens fee (tip included) not only for yardage, but to help navigate, and motivate you. Since the course requires cart part only, why not take advantage of an accompanying fore-caddy. They provide local knowledge tips, assist in reading the greens, and will replace all of your fairway divots, and repair your ball mark. A well-known author once called golf, "a good walk spoiled." Don't believe it! Kiawah Island golf can't be judged by the trite saying, "been there, done that." Instead, it's like "not yet been there, but will have done that" before you leave.
[photos © Howard Johnson and Kiawah Island Golf Resort]
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The newly renovated Oak Point Golf Course originally designed by Clyde Johnston went from diabolical to resort player friendly. From a new $1 million clubhouse and new cart paths encompassing the entire course, adding to the look and feel of a Scottish style course, makes it still challenging but much less terrifying. The course still demands accuracy or "under the old oak tree a mighty golf ball will lay."
The Turtle Point Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, not only requires you to bring your wallet, but your "A" game as well. Although Nicklaus designed the course based on his expert playability, higher handicappers, take notice. Many trees were placed to help displace the oceanic winds and grass area bunkers were introduced next to higher elevated greens. Many of the holes favor those "I'm not going to quit my day job" swingers that for the most part favor a left to right ball flight fade, while most all of the idyllic homes are out of sight and for any handicapped challenged individual, out of reach.
No matter the player's skill level, all trouble is well defined, with greens contoured front-to-back to accept either a high lofted or lower trajectory shot. The greenside collection areas were modified with 419 Bermuda, which in laymen's terms sits the ball up. In addition, Pete and Alice re-seeded the greens with a salt resistant Paspalum that has no grain which not only gave a "ripe" or mature look to the greens, and because this seed increases ball speed the altered contouring balances this out.
