Subtle torture was one Pete Dye specialty. It was not for nothing that the professionals called him “Marquis de Sod”. Among his sadistic hallmarks: a penchant for loopholes, especially penitentiary confinement. Witness the beastly finishers at Whistling Straits, TPC Sawgrass and the Stadium Course at PGA West.
The 18th on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island belongs to that infamous canon—a par-4 purpose-built to knock you to sleep.
The Dyes – Pete and his wife, Alice – designed the Ocean Course for a special occasion: the course was built from the ground up to host Ryder Cup. It debuted in the fall of 1991, just before matches so controversial that they have since been remembered as “The Beach War.” Drawing on the traditions of Scottish and Irish links, the Ocean Course unfolds along South Carolina’s Atlantic coast, at the mercy of winds that never behave the same way twice. Without a prevailing breeze to design for, the Dyes built enough flexibility into the fairway to play as two different courses depending on the conditions. On any given hole, there can be an eight-club change from one day to the next.
The 18th is a bear whichever way it blows. The hole stretches about 490 yards, it helps to hit it big. But length won’t save you from what Dye really was, which was messing with your mind. The fairway is a thin target surrounded by dunes on both sides, and from the top it looks much more threatening than it actually is. The depicted picture traces a gentle curve from left to right. Miss in any way and the sand awaits. The green, located in the dunes, is also a test target.
When players caught on to his punishing finals, Dye had little sympathy. He defined such holes as opportunities—a chance for some kind of lasting fame Ben Hogan hit his iconic 1-iron on the 72nd hole of the 1950 US Open at Merion, which earned him a spot on the cover of LIFE magazine.
Kiawah’s 18th had other ideas in 1991. Hale Irwin spun his car and couldn’t recover. Bernhard Langerneeding just six legs for victory, he saw his bowler graze the edge and stay out. Two of the best of the era, undone on the same hole. No glory. No magazine cover. At least not the kind that every gamer would have wanted to put on their wall.
