Renovation improves Oak Point golf course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- A six-month renovation has brought Oak Point, the only course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort on the western (inland) side of the Kiawah River, up to the standards of the resort's four other courses.
Paspalum Platinum grass now covers the tees, fairways and greens of the Clyde Johnston design dating to 1989. Other modifications -- greens and tees restored to their original size, reshaped bunkers, a re-contoured fairway or two, irrigation in the rough, new tee boxes on nos. 11 and 18 -- and the removal of waste areas on holes 6-7 and nearly 30 other bunkers has the 6,701-yard Oak Point as playable and enjoyable as ever.
Each nine climaxes with a green situated near Haulover Creek and the Kiawah River. Oak Point's 152-yard ninth hole was one of the highlights of alterations made to the front nine in 2004. Ponds are a nuisance throughout the round. An old cemetery sits almost hidden in plain sight at the back of the range.
The location of Oak Point, purchased by the resort in 1997, always made the course a bit of a fifth wheel in the playing rotation for Kiawah Island Golf Resort guests, but these upgrades make choosing where to play a much tougher task.