There's only one thing better than playing at a world-class course ... the anticipation leading up to it.

It's funny, even after all these years and all these so-called "ranked" courses I've notched on my golf bag, I still get that little twang in my stomach and spring in my step when the countdown begins to seeing a new course filled with hyperbole and promise.

I'm teeing it up on Kiawah Island's Ocean course later this week. If you ask me, there are only a handful of resorts that really get the blood pumping to a new high ... places like Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes, the American Club. Kiawah deserves a spot among these heavyweights of golf.

That 1991 Ryder Cup put the course on the map and the 2004 addition of the 5-star Sanctuary Hotel put the resort there to stay.

My forecast isn't great - it rarely is in January in Lowcountry South Carolina - but temperatures in the 50s shouldn't dampen my experience. More to come once my rental car arrives.

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