Sunday, May 08, 2005

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- There is little about Kiawah Island that doesn't tantalize the soul, and very little about the Ocean Course that doesn't challenge the heart. If the resort is a Baleek china plate, the rough and raw Ocean Course is beluga caviar. It is the shine on a Bentley, the centerpiece of an island that just might be the finest golf resort on the East Coast.

It was designed by Pete Dye, who is to course architects what The Phantom's Revenge is to rollercoasters, and he made it tough and nasty and beastly, not for the faint of heart. In many respects, though, the Ocean Course is as much like the resort as Ralph Lauren and Ralph Kramden.

Kiawah Island itself is quaint, breezy, charming, where huge live oaks sweep down on uncluttered island roads and commercialism is still waiting for a gate pass. The Ocean Course is bold, brazen and affronting, a Mike Tyson uppercut to the handicap, a place where braggadocio comes to die.

And yet they come together in uncanny manner -- island and course -- each appealing in its own way, each very tough to ignore.

Much the same way, the island's newest jewel -- the posh $125 million Sanctuary at Kiawah Island -- blends with the existing oceanfront landscape as though it is a black iron gate surrounding a century-old Charleston mansion. There it is, Scarlet O'Hara's soul in Halle Berry's body, rising from the sand dunes like Atlantis from the ocean, a repository of opulence and elegance that looks as though it's been there since the turn of the last century, rather than, uh, last August.

The Sanctuary is the latest punctuation to a resort that was already great.

A 45-minute drive from Charleston, S.C., Kiawah Island has now taken another step up the luxury and pampering ladder, unveiling a spectacular hotel to go with the golf that is unrivaled between Miami and Maine.

Kiawah was a favorite spring and summer getaway since before the resort hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup championship, which pits the United States against a team from Great Britain. It is understated and beautiful, elegant and reserved, devoid of high-rise condominiums and featuring miles of undisturbed beach. It has been a frequent haunt for people from Western Pennsylvania, too -- the 'Burgh ranks seventh in areas from which the resort attracts guests.

The reason is simple: Kiawah is a quiet family retreat with plenty of championship golf.

The island has four resort courses, all created by famous designers -- Turtle Point (Jack Nicklaus), Cougar Point (Gary Player), Osprey Point (Tom Fazio) and, of course, the Ocean Course, which, when the wind is blowing, just might be the toughest course in the world. A recent addition is Oak Point, a Clyde Johnston design, which is off the island in Hope Plantation, less than a mile from the resort's entrance.

Oak Point was purchased by the island several years ago and refurbished to give golfers a more modest -- and less expensive -- place to play.

Kiawah also has two private courses -- the River Club, designed by Fazio, and Cassique, a Tom Watson design with heavy Scottish flavor. But there is no need to play those -- you will need a member's help to do so -- with the variety of courses available to resort guests.

Kiawah's most playable course is Cougar Point, which Player refurbished and lengthened in 1997 to match the standard set forth by the other designer courses on the island. It measures 6,875 yards from the back tees -- a healthy challenge for even the lowest handicap -- but a more golfer-friendly 6,090 yards from the white tees. It features several particularly demanding holes running along the Kiawah River, including the 180-yard sixth, with a bulkhead green running along a wetlands hazard.

Osprey Point, which opened in 1988, might be the most dazzling of the layouts, and no wonder -- Fazio might be the best architect in golf. There are any number of signature holes on the 6,871-yard layout, beginning with No. 2, a 489-yard par-5 with a 200-yard carry over water from the tee. Or No. 11, a 205-yard par-3 over water with a green wider than Charleston and a putting surface that pitches hard from back left.

But there is little doubt as to the prettiest and most demanding hole at Osprey Point -- No. 9, a 461-yard par-4 that requires a tee shot over water to a 90-degree angled fairway with mounding and bunkers. From there, it can be an approach from 180 yards to 230 yards, depending on the angle you took from the tee.

That isn't the only stout finishing hole. The 18th, a 552-yard par-5, requires two good shots merely to get into position for a wedge shot to a narrow green.

Turtle Point, the oldest of the resort courses (1981), is, in many respects, an un-Nicklaus-like design. Many of the fairways and greens settings are woven into the existing landscape and lack the artificial mounding and design motifs of later Golden Bear projects. Still, it is demanding -- five of the par-4s play longer than 420 yards -- and the only other course on the island that has holes right along the Atlantic Ocean beachfront. Turtle Point has three -- the 173-yard 14th, the nasty 412-yard 15th and the difficult 179-yard 16th.

Still, none can rival the Ocean Course, not for beauty, not for difficulty, not for the experience. In addition to the Ryder Cup, it has been host to the 1997 and 2003 World Cup, the 2001 Warburg Cup, and will be the venue for the 2007 Senior PGA Championship. It is Pete Dye at his best. When stretched to the very tips, the course measures more than 7,900 yards, which is darn near unplayable for even the best players in the world. Look hard from the clubhouse porch and you can still see vestiges of an oceanfront hole built to be the 18th hole in the movie, "Legend of Bagger Vance."

The first four holes play through dunes and wetlands before the ocean becomes visible at No. 5, a 207-yard par-3. From there, the course is all links style, with the final four holes on the front and the first four on the back all playing in the same direction. That is significant on most days, especially when you're playing into a headwind.

The back nine at the Ocean Course might be unlike any in America. Holes 10 through 13 play away from the clubhouse, with the ocean on the left, then the course turns to come back to the clubhouse, with the beachfront on the right. Fairways are angled, greens are crowned and every hazard is a waste bunker. What's more, everything is in play, with no out-of-bounds. Hit 'em in the sand dunes, go find 'em in the sand dunes.

And when you get to No. 17, the 221-yard par-3 over water, pay attention to the lake. It is not nearly as large and daunting as it appeared on TV during the 1991 Ryder Cup, when Mark Calcavecchia, during his infamous collapse, duck-shanked a 2-iron into the water.

Golf doesn't get much better than the Ocean Course.

Unless, of course, afterwards you're retreating to the Sanctuary. Opened last August, the 255-room hotel is a shrine to pleasure and testament to the ability of weaving architectural development with natural ocean landscape. It took nearly a decade to plan and build, but it sits among the live oaks and sand dunes as though it has been there as long as the stunning beachfront.

The lushly landscaped entrance is merely the prelude to a hotel designed in the style of a grand seaside mansion, replete with the same copper, slate and brick used on the exterior of the stately 200-year-old homes in nearby Charleston. Even the majestic entrance and the grand lobby floors were a planning wonder -- built at just the right height so the stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean through a big picture window is the first sight to catch the eye of an arriving guest.

Inside, the oceanfront resort is all elegance and style, with a premium on pampering and guest service. There are sitting rooms for cocktails and sweeping staircases for Southern charm, restaurants for refined taste (Ocean Room and Jasmine Porch) and an ice cream parlor for post-dining palates.

The guestrooms are equally lavish -- and comfortable. Ninety percent of them have views of the Atlantic Ocean, and none is smaller than 520 square feet.

Nearly half the rooms have king-size beds with handmade mattresses, making the sleep experience as extraordinary as the rest of the hotel. Even the bathing is tantalizing: A mounted ceiling showerhead coupled with a wall showerhead in a spacious marble stall.

Outside, a spectacular pool and cabana area -- don't forget the poolside bar -- look out to the Atlantic Ocean, providing an unencumbered view from just about any location. A garden-theme spa with 12 treatment rooms is also available, making the Sanctuary just that -- a place that provides refuge from the stress and chaos of everyday life. It has just the right mix of island cool and stately Southern elegance, Jimmy Buffet and Jimmy Carter all rolled into one.

If you go to Kiawah, don't miss the Sanctuary.

Just like you wouldn't pass up the Ocean Course.