For many years while its coastal neighbors to the north and south evolved into two of the best-known golf destinations in the country, Charleston was attracting visitors to its myriad historic sites, broad beaches, fine dining and boutique shopping. But nearly 200 years after the Country Club of Charleston was founded, the historic port city plunged  into the world of resort golf. It has never looked back.

In 1974 work began on an expansive resort and residential community at Kiawah Island, located 20 minutes south of downtown Charleston. Over the next several years, Kiawah grew into an acclaimed golf destination with courses designed by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio and a quaint oceanfront inn. But what ultimately grabbed the attention of the golf world was Fazio’s work to the north of Charleston, on a once-sleepy beach retreat know as the Isle of Palms.

Fazio was still garnering praise for his spectacular design at The Vintage Club in Palm Springs, Calif.,  when he unveiled the Links Course at Wild Dunes in the fall of 1980. The centerpiece of an expansive golf and beach resort, the Links Course was a remarkable achievement in routing and design. But equally amazing was the fact that developer Ray Finch allowed Fazio to utilize a valuable stretch of oceanfront property for the course. As a result, the Links Course presented golfers with a rolling adventure through moss-draped live oaks, magnolias and exotic palms, alongside giant sand dunes and saltwater marshes, and finishing against the massive, wind-blown dunes of the Atlantic. Not surprisingly, the Links Course debuted to rave reviews and captured the imagination of everyone even remotely connected to the game. Over the next several years, more courses sprang up throughout the Charleston area. Yet as the city’s entries on the National Historic Register continued to outnumber its golf courses, it became clear that golf in Charleston was going to be about quality, not quantity. 

And then, along came Mr. Dye.

From the moment that it was first announced, Pete Dye’s Ocean Course at Kiawah Island seemed destined for greatness. Long before its completion, the course had been chosen by the PGA of America as the site of the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches. The enormous challenge that lay before Dye was made somewhat less daunting by the site that he was given. Like Fazio at Wild Dunes, Dye was given oceanfront land that was worth billions of dollars in real estate value, except Dye had more of it. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” Dye told LINKS Magazine during construction of the course. “No one has ever been given land for 18 holes parallel to an ocean.”      

Indeed, The Ocean Course, located on the eastern-most end of Kiawah Island, has more seaside holes than any other course in the Northern Hemisphere: 10 directly bordering the Atlantic and eight running parallel to those. Originally designed to be nestled behind the dunes, Dye’s wife, Alice, suggested raising the entire course to afford unobstructed views of Kiawah’s stunning coastline from every hole. The change also made the course substantially more demanding, exposing each hole to the brisk and often unpredictable sea breezes. 

The Ocean Course gained instant notoriety with the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches, the dramatic “War by the Shore” decided literally by the final putt of Sunday’s final match. In 1997 The Ocean Course hosted the World Cup of Golf, with the world’s finest golfers from 32 countries competing in the team stroke play tournament. In 2002 and 2003, Dye returned to oversee some significant renovations, which included rebuilding all the greens and tees, and moving the 18th green 40 yards toward the ocean—creating an even more magnificent closing hole.

Last year, The Ocean Course unveiled a new clubhouse in the footprint of the old 18th green, just prior to hosting the Senior PGA Championship. And in 2012 The Ocean Course will host South Carolina’s first major tournament—the PGA Championship. It will be just the fourth course to host each of the PGA of America’s major championships.

Chances are, everything you’ve heard about The Ocean Course is true. Just as likely, everything you’ve heard about Charleston is true. Widely acknowledged as America’s most beautifully preserved city, it remains a living monument to 300 years of American history, not to mention the home of American golf.