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Southern Dunes is pure. It’s a great layout and they keep it in immaculate shape in season. Greens could be a little faster, but they are true. Bunkers everywhere and certainly desert “sand” but if you know what you’re doing you shouldn’t have trouble getting out. Tee boxes in great shape, practice facility is very nice, and the breakfast sandwich I had was absolutely amazing.

The layout is ok, there are a few bizarre holes with trees in middle of fairways, and greens in obscure places. The conditions were ok and the greens are healing, but: be warned…I played a SIX HOUR round on a Tuesday afternoon, and I only wish I were exaggerating. The course is tough, so when you take a bunch of 27+ handicaps and flood them on the course every 7-8 minutes, pace of play is DOOMED. For this reason alone, I’ll never play this course again. 1- space your tee times apart, 2- hire Marshall’s and make it their job to enforce pace of play (like making a really slow group skip a hole…we saw 0 Marshall’s, and not even a starter). 3- stop allowing golfers wearing jeans to play: chances are, they aren’t good enough or long enough to play this course and enjoy it (or prevent play from slowing to a miserable crawl). As an example, we saw a group of 4 hit 9 balls total in the water on #7 or 8 (the par 3 over water).

This course is what golf is all about. For the 3rd day of April, it was greener than other courses in the area, and the greens were heeling nicely from a recent aeration. What impressed me the most, though, was the layout. This is pure golf. This is what golf is supposed to be. The course is challenging, but fair. There are no wasted holes or wasted space. If you are a decent golfer and want to enjoy yourself, this course is a must-play if anywhere near Athens. Great value and really friendly staff.

I’m not even sure where to start. I was in Charleston for 3 days, and due to a limited budget, a course costing $400 (plus $100 for a caddie, and you should absolutely take a caddie) wasn’t in my budget. However, due to Southwest loosing my clubs for 2 of the three days, I decided to splurge and play one round of epic golf. And, let me tell you, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island is beyond EPIC!! I’ve been a scratch golfer twice in my life, and am a mid-single digit right now (mental game, between the ears stuff), which is only to say that I’m writing this review as someone who has deep experience and appreciation for the game of golf. The Ocean course is the best course I have ever played, and I’ve played a lot of the gems in the United States (Scotland trip next year might change that). Literally, from first walking into the most amazing clubhouse, the history and ambiance just resonates with a feeling that there is no place else you’d rather be. The practice facilities are great, my caddie was exceptional, the course conditions were pristine (they use a special grass that grows in sand/coastal areas, and there is NO GRAIN, so putts are truer than any other course out there. It’s the best turf on earth, and they use it tee to green), and the weather happened to be 65 and sunny with almost no wind (don’t expect that though, my caddie said it’s a rarity, it isn’t ranked as one of the toughest courses in the world for nothing). On top of all of that, I shot 77 from 1 tee box up from the tips, as the course really brought out the best in me. You have to be precise on your tee shots. There’s water, sand washes and terribly spiky bushes on every single hole, but you see what you get. The sight lines on every hole are as good as any, so if you keep it in play (and keep it low if the wind is blowing) it can be a score-able course.

I have many other words to express how amazing this course and experience is/was, but we all know Pete Dye is a legend....and The Ocean Course is his “John Hancock.” I digress.

Well, I'll try and keep this short.

My good friend and I played out here about 2 months ago, and aside from incredible course conditions, million dollar views, and great weather...we did not have a pleasant experience. Let's just say we had a marshal hound us for 5 holes to "pick up the pace" when we literally had a group in front of us on every shot(which I quite literally pointed out to him on numerous occasions). I'll leave out most of the details, but it left the most-sour taste in my mouth I'd ever experienced golfing.

The above said, we called the pro shop while on the course, were notified that we were, in fact, 5 minutes ahead of pace, and that their policy was "if they are on pace of play, stay away." The very nice lady in the pro shop then directed me to the head pro, Bob's, voicemail to tell my story.

Bob responded to me in a day, and we talked at-length about the marshal encounter. He was very apologetic, very receptive to my feedback, and very eager to bring my friend and I back out to give this course another chance.

Boy- am I glad we did!! Red Haw Ridge is a a pretty spectacular layout, with dramatic views and elevation changes. Both times the course was in incredible shape (even late September), and not a single hole is a "throwaway." The staff was incredibly friendly, the food in the restaurant was some of the best I've had at any course in the state, and our overall experience was one to remember.

The course is not incredibly long, and the rough and native areas are not forgiving, but if you can place your tee-shot well, the course is certainly get-able.

The bottom line here: it's a great track, and quickly becoming one of my favorite layouts in the state. More-importantly, a marshal was totally out of line, and the head pro could have done nothing, or made things right. He went above and beyond to make sure our experience was better the second time around, and I'll certainly be recommending this course to my golf buddies as we look to play there more in the future.

If you haven't been out here, it's worth the drive. Even if you are playing bad, the views alone will make up for it. All in all, this is a 1 turned 5 star experience, with a course to match.