The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort opens with a relatively short par-4, giving the golfer an opportunity to get his round off to a good start. This may be the narrowest fairway on the course. Still, there is plenty of room between the waste bunker that guards the right side of the fairway from tee to green and the thick dune grass that borders the left. A good drive will leave a short iron to a gently undulating green tucked into a natural dune area with a generous opening from the left. A pond stretches halfway down the right side, but doesn't come into play.

Pete Dye's Comment:

This hole is the farthest away from the ocean. We did everything we could, environmentally, to clear an old sand ridge on the left and make this hole as open as possible off the tee. There is a mammoth amount of room to hit driver, so just hit it. The better players will hit driver and 8- or 9-iron. The green is at ground level and everything on the left bounces into the green. It should be an easy starting hole.

Local knowledge:

No. 1 is one of the easiest holes on the course. Feel free to use a driver off the tee but a 3-wood is plenty. There's plenty of room to recover, especially from the waste bunker on the right. Around the green, there's bailout on the left. It's a good hole to get a round started with a possible birdie.

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Kiawah Island, South Carolina USA
7,296 yards / Par 72