Kiawah in the News
As PGA looms, Ocean Course labeled America's toughest
By: Jeff Hartsell of The Post and
Courier Staff
Originally Published on: 12/07/11
Golf Digest honors Kiawah Island golf course
Pete Dye designed the Ocean
Course on Kiawah Island to be one of the toughest and most beautiful golf
courses in the world.
The world's best golfers vs. America's toughest
course.
That's the matchup the sporting world can look
forward to next August when the 2012 PGA Championship comes to the Ocean Course,
which has been crowned the toughest course in America by Golf Digest magazine.
The Pete Dye-designed course, on Kiawah Island,
earned the distinction for the second time and will be featured in the January
issue of Golf Digest. The 2012 PGA Championship will be played Aug. 9-12 on the
Ocean Course, the first time South Carolina has hosted one of golf's four major
championships.
"We're thrilled," said PGA Championship director
Brett Sterba. "It's great news for the championship, a chance to pit America's
toughest golf course against the world's greatest golfers."
The Ocean Course, situated on the eastern-most end
of Kiawah Island, will subject the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to a
course layout that features unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean, and the
unpredictable ocean winds that come with those views.
"With all the challenges that the Ocean Course
brings, it really tests the players' all-around game from tee to green," Sterba
said. "It doesn't favor one style of player. It favors the overall consistent
player, and in past events, that's who has been at the top of the leaderboard at
the Ocean Course."
Opened in 1991, the Ocean Course has hosted the
1991 Ryder Cup, 1993 and 1997 World Cup, 2005 PGA Club Professional Championship
and the 2007 Senior PGA Championship.
Only six players finished under par at the 2007
Senior PGA Championship. It's a good bet that Dye will make the Ocean Course,
which can stretch to more than 7,800 yards, a much sterner test for Woods and
company.
"For the fourth time since 1991, Pete Dye has come
in to tweak his masterpiece," said Roger Warren, president of Kiawah Island Golf
Resort and past president of The PGA of America. "He continually works to make
it as spectacular as it can be."
Sterba said the PGA Championship averages about 97
of the world's top 100 players in its field; last year at the Atlanta Athletic
Club, 100 of the top 101 players were in the field.
"It's traditionally the strongest field in golf,"
he said. "To see the world's best on America's toughest course, you could not
ask for a better combination."
For more information on the PGA Championship, call
(843) 768.6003 or visit www.PGA2012.com.
| By: Jeff Hartsell of The Post and Courier Staff | |
| Originally Published on: 12/07/11 | |
Golf Digest honors Kiawah Island golf course
Pete Dye designed the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island to be one of the toughest and most beautiful golf courses in the world.
The world's best golfers vs. America's toughest course.
That's the matchup the sporting world can look forward to next August when the 2012 PGA Championship comes to the Ocean Course, which has been crowned the toughest course in America by Golf Digest magazine.
The Pete Dye-designed course, on Kiawah Island, earned the distinction for the second time and will be featured in the January issue of Golf Digest. The 2012 PGA Championship will be played Aug. 9-12 on the Ocean Course, the first time South Carolina has hosted one of golf's four major championships.
"We're thrilled," said PGA Championship director Brett Sterba. "It's great news for the championship, a chance to pit America's toughest golf course against the world's greatest golfers."
The Ocean Course, situated on the eastern-most end of Kiawah Island, will subject the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to a course layout that features unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean, and the unpredictable ocean winds that come with those views.
"With all the challenges that the Ocean Course brings, it really tests the players' all-around game from tee to green," Sterba said. "It doesn't favor one style of player. It favors the overall consistent player, and in past events, that's who has been at the top of the leaderboard at the Ocean Course."
Opened in 1991, the Ocean Course has hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup, 1993 and 1997 World Cup, 2005 PGA Club Professional Championship and the 2007 Senior PGA Championship.
Only six players finished under par at the 2007 Senior PGA Championship. It's a good bet that Dye will make the Ocean Course, which can stretch to more than 7,800 yards, a much sterner test for Woods and company.
"For the fourth time since 1991, Pete Dye has come in to tweak his masterpiece," said Roger Warren, president of Kiawah Island Golf Resort and past president of The PGA of America. "He continually works to make it as spectacular as it can be."
Sterba said the PGA Championship averages about 97 of the world's top 100 players in its field; last year at the Atlanta Athletic Club, 100 of the top 101 players were in the field.
"It's traditionally the strongest field in golf," he said. "To see the world's best on America's toughest course, you could not ask for a better combination."
For more information on the PGA Championship, call (843) 768.6003 or visit www.PGA2012.com.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Located along 10 miles of pristine beach just south of Charleston, SC, Kiawah Island Golf Resort is rated as the country’s top golf resort by Travel + Leisure Golf. It includes The Sanctuary – a AAA Five Diamond-rated, 255-room hotel and spa – and 600 private villas and luxury homes. The resort has five championship golf courses, including The Ocean Course – host of the 1991 Ryder Cup, the 2007 Senior PGA and 2012 PGA championships. The resort also ranks as the number one tennis resort in the world, has nine restaurants, and features a renowned recreation and nature program. For more information, visit www.kiawahresort.com or call 800-654-2924.
And America's best beach is ...
By CNN staff
May 27, 2011 1:07 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
· Annual list names America's top 10 beaches
· Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida, receives top honors this year
· Beaches in San Diego and Hawaii round out top three
CNN) -- Heading to the coast this weekend? Take note of the nation's best sandy stretch: Sarasota, Florida's Siesta Beach tops the 2011 list of the top 10 beaches in the country.
The annual list, in its 21st year, is produced by Stephen P. Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research.
"Siesta Beach in Sarasota boasts that it has the finest and whitest sand in the world, and I cannot argue with this claim; the powdery sand is nearly pure quartz crystal," Leatherman said in a statement.
Coronado Beach in San Diego and Hawaii's Kahanamoku Beach on Oahu round out the top three.
Coronado is described in the rankings as "the toast of Southern California" with the historic Hotel del Coronado adding its celebrity appeal and Old World elegance.
Travel Snapshots: Tropical drinks
Kahanamoko Beach offers great swimming for families and children, according to the best beaches list. The beach is named for a gold medal Olympic swimmer, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, who is credited with bringing surfing to the outside world, according to the best beaches list.
Travel Snapshots: Island escapes
The top 10 beaches for 2011:
1. Siesta Beach in Sarasota
2. Coronado Beach in San Diego
3. Kahanamoku Beach in Honolulu's Waikiki district
4. Main Beach in East Hampton, New York
5. Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks of North Carolina
6. St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle
7. Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, South Carolina
8. Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
9. Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu, Hawaii
10. Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida
The Sanctuary receives Audubon designation
By: Daily Journal Staff
Originally Published 8/28/07
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort has been recognized for environmental excellence by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, an Audubon International program.
The AAA five diamond-rated hotel is the first property in South Carolina to achieve designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Seventeen golf courses in the state have the ACSP designation, including Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course and Cougar Point, through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses.
Joellen Zeh, program manager for ACSP, said The Sanctuary has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program and is to be commended for its efforts to provide a sanctuary for wildlife on the property.
The Sanctuary opened in August 2004 with 255 rooms and suites on 25 oceanfront acres and is surrounded by 20 acres of undisturbed maritime forest. Inside, the hotel has a recycling program, practices water and energy conservation and uses glassware rather than disposables. Guests may voluntarily donate $2 per night to the Kiawah Conservancy and enjoy The Discovery Room, which is staffed by resort naturalists who lead a variety of walking tours highlighting the island’s natural habitat.
Vijay Singh, hotel manager, said ACSP is a significant designation.
“The award is reflective of the name we chose for the hotel and its natural landscape architecture,” Singh said. “We made a conscious effort to blend The Sanctuary into the island’s environment and ecosystem, and are thankful for the work of our horticulturalist, Pete Nelson.”
To achieve Audubon certification, businesses must demonstrate a high degree of environmental quality in a variety of categories including environmental planning, wildlife habitat management, resource conservation, waste management, and outreach and education. Information on the program is available online.
The Top 25 Best Family Golf Resorts
By: Dana White of Golf for Women
Originally Published in the May/June issue
KIAWAH ISLAND GOLF RESORT
Kiawah Island, SC
An upscale escape on the South Carolina coast with a lowcountry vibe and accessible legendary golf.
GOLF: Four of Kiawah's five courses have junior tee markers during the summer: on the front nines of Cougar Point (1,322 yards), Turtle Point (1,262 yards) and Oak Point (1,484 yards); Osprey Point has them on all 18 holes (1,470 yards front, 1,473 back). (Children are discouraged from playing The Ocean Course, which Golf Digest has named the country's toughest resort golf course.) The Tommy Cuthbert Learning Center at Turtle Point holds two-day junior golf camps for intermediate players ages 12 to 17.
LODGING: The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is a lavish new hotel with an old soul. It has 255 rooms, a family pool, and a nature center. In addition, there are 500 one-to-four-bedroom villas with access to the resort's two pools (but not The Sanctuary hotel pools) as well as discounts on tee times and Kamp Kiawah for kids ages 3 to 11.
BIG DEAL: In the summer-long Family Tee program, kids 17 and under play free with a paying adult from 6:30 to 7 p.m. ($45).
FUN STUFF: Boogie-board in the Atlantic Ocean; take a nature tour; shoot hoops at Night Heron Park; enter a sand-sculpting contest.
EXTRA CREDIT: Tennis, anyone? Kiawah has one of the nation's top programs (800-654-2924; kiawahresort.com).
For the rest of the rankings, please visit:
http://www.golfdigest.com/gfw/gfwtravel/index.ssf?/gfw/gfwtravel/gfw200705bestresorts.html
The 10 best golf resorts in the USA
By: Larry Olmsted of The Golfer's World
Originally Published on: 4/17/07
It’s been a while since I did a ranking list, and since summer is rolling around and friends have been calling to ask me about where to play, I figured I would do my top ten U.S. golf resorts. To minimize your outraged responses (like that’s going to happen) I have re-ordered the list two ways. One is ranked by best golf, which is pretty self explanatory: Toss out the hotels, food, service, spa, etc., and these are the golf resorts to play, period. The other list is best all-around resorts, weighing the quality of golf along with the accompanying lodging, dining, amenities, service, things to do and so on. And before you ask, the best all-around resorts do tend to be expensive, because it is luxury lodging and fine dining that make them so good.
Best Golf:
1. Bandon Dunes, Bandon, Ore.
2. Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach, Calif.
3. Destination Kohler, Kohler, Wis.
4. Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah, S.C.
5. Pinehurst, Southern Pines, N.C.
6. Lake Las Vegas, Nev.
7. Reynolds Plantation, Ga.
8. Red Sky Ranch, Colo.
9. Four Seasons Resorts, Lanai, Hawaii
10. Doral, Fla.
Best Golf Resorts Overall:
1. Destination Kohler
2. Pebble Beach
3. TIE: Bandon Dunes,
TIE: Kiawah Island Golf Resort
5. Four Seasons Resorts, Lanai
6. Lake Las Vegas
7. Pinehurst, Southern Pines
8. Reynolds Plantation
9. Sunriver, Ore.
10. Walt Disney World, Fla.
