What makes the Ocean Course so difficult?

[hoofreak7]

So I played Kiawah's Ocean Course yesterday. The first thing I'll point out is that I was expecting to get absolutely dominated, so I purposely threw away the scorecard before the round so I could focus on having the most possible fun in the round. This worked great. I definitely didn't have any career round or anything but I think my score was fairly good considering the course is supposedly the most difficult in the country. After my round I went back and tried to remember my score, which I found to be at best an 84, at worst an 86 (memory was fuzzy on two of the holes). Now my handicap on here says like 5 or 6, but I haven't changed that in a while. I usually shoot right around 80 (78-83 is pretty average....mid 70s for easier tracks, low to mid 80s on tougher courses). So 85 wasn't off the charts bad like i was expecting. We played the tees in front of the tips (except on 2, 16, 17, and 18 where we played all the way back to see what it's like). We had fantastic caddies (I wouldn't have come close to breaking 90 without mine). The big factor: the wind peaked at about 10mph (we played early afternoon). Maybe it was the lack of wind or the aid of the caddies, but I thought the course was much easier than I expected. I had 3 birdies, which is better than avg. (I suck at birdie putts and usually settle for pars). Why is the Ocean Course hard? If I had to say, it would be a combination of the wind and the lack of space to miss anywhere around the greens. What do you guys think?

[Kcas77]

I had played their without a caddie and the wind was at least 30mph and shot 94. Front 9 didnt think it was very tough. The back 9 was impossible. 85 is a great score there.

[deronsizemore]

It's hard to tell. Golf is a crazy game like that. For me, each day is different. I've played easy courses and shot terrible and I've played difficult courses and played pretty well. Played Valhalla last year from 7600 yards with a slope of 152 and rating of 77 and played decent. Definitely wasn't as difficult as I was expecting and had it not been for two holes (16 and 17) I would have played extremely well.

You could play the course again next week and shoot 10 shots worse or maybe even a couple better. That's golf.

[Lefty-Golfer]

When i played the Ocean Course winds were approx. 3 clubs...not kidding. I don't know what the speed was of the wind was but it was very high. I shot a 103 or 104, was covered in sand and happy to get out alive!!! 10 mph winds would have been awesome!!!

Great course, awesome clubhouse, fantastic dinner....damn wind!!

[mcotter]

I have played the Ocean Course literally dozens of times. I played it before they softened the course up to get the players to return for the Wordle Cup (they didnt want to comoeback after the "War by the Shore". It is all about the wind! Scores follow the wind. I have played Driver into par 3. I have also played a 7 iron (usually 155) hole high into a 215 yard par 3. The wind can be absolutely brutal.

[lonewolf]

First off. the course is much easier now than it was in the 90's - early 00's. What still makes it hard beyond the wind is the high possibilty of a good shot beign turned into a terrible lie around the greens and/or just off the fairway.

Did you use a caddie?

[zackr]

It is the wind that makes that course difficult, Especially the back 9.

[authentic_golfer]

My only experience there was in the 1990s. It was a bear, for sure, and largely due to the wind. The difficulty wasn't what stuck with me so much as the incredible seaside setting. A truly great golf experience, regardless of score.

Sean

[Lefty-Golfer]

First off. the course is much easier now than it was in the 90's - early 00's. What still makes it hard beyond the wind is the high possibilty of a good shot beign turned into a terrible lie around the greens and/or just off the fairway.

Yes and he was one of the worst i have ever had. I however was stupid and listened to him. He gave me a driver on virtually every hole, which down wind is not needed. Several times i drove through the fairway into the junk...and when you are in the junk at the ocean course it tends to be nasty. i also made the the mistake of to many hero recoveries. Take the abuse needed but it but get it on the fairway with your next shot.

The par 3 on the back maybe 14 or 15 played into a 3 club wind with a table top green...WTF the green had to be 15' above you if you missed it and was shaved very short. nothing was stopping on it. it abused me.

[noob]

I guess since I'm still very new to golf it didn't make much difference to me. I really did enjoy the ocean dunes in Phan Thiet, Vietnam and went back twice (it has one of 500 best holes in the world by US Golf Magazine). The wind was very brutal on certain days. You could see your ball get lifted up halfway off the tee box, stood still (in the air of course) and dropped straight down due to the wind for an amazing 150 yard drive. On the green the wind could even move your ball when you were setting up...

On the up side the view was really nice. On holes along the beach the sound of waves thrashing into the rocks calmed you down and made for very relaxing golf.

some picture from the ocean course I went the other day.



On the tee box of one of the world top 500 holes.


The green: