Exquisite torture was a Pete Dye specialty. It was not without reason that the pros called him the ‘Marquis de Sod’. One of his sadistic characteristics: a penchant for closing holes in a particularly criminal manner. Witness the beastly finishers at Whistling Straits, TPC Sawgrass and the Stadium Course at PGA West.
The 18th at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island belongs in that dastardly canon: a par-4 built specifically to kick you in the underpants.
The Dyes – Pete and his wife Alice – designed the Ocean Course for a unique occasion: the course was built from scratch to host the Ryder Cup. It debuted in the fall of 1991, right before matches so controversial that they have since been remembered as the War by the Shore. Based on the traditions of Scottish and Irish ties, the Ocean Course unfolds along South Carolina’s Atlantic coast, at the mercy of winds that never behave the same way twice. With no prevailing wind to design with, the Dyes built enough flexibility into the routing to play as two different courses depending on conditions. On any given hole, there can be an eight-club difference from one day to the next.
The 18th is a bear no matter how the wind blows. The hole stretches for almost 490 meters, it helps to hit it big. But height won’t save you from what Dye was really up to, which messed up your mind. The fairway is a slender target hemmed in by dunes on both sides, and from the tee it looks much more menacing than it actually is. The prescribed shot follows a gentle curve from left to right. Miss either way and the sand awaits. The greenery located in the dunes is also a difficult target.
When players complained about his punishing finals, Dye had little sympathy. He viewed such holes as opportunities – a shot at the kind of lasting fame that Ben Hogan achieved with his iconic 1-iron on the 72nd hole of the US Open at Merion in 1950, which earned him a place on the cover of LIFE magazine.
Kiawah’s 18th had other ideas in 1991. Hale Irwin ended his drive and was unable to recover. Bernhard Langer, who needed just five feet to win, saw his putt graze the edge and stay outside. Two of the best of that era, undone on the same hole. No glory. No magazine covers. At least not the kind that either player would want on the wall.
#Kiawah #Ocean #par4 #boggle #mind #hole #truth