KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - Perhaps no other golf resort in the country has grown more spectacular in the past five years, and done it more thoughtfully, than the Kiawah Island Golf Resort off the coast of South Carolina.

In the race to add amenities, some resorts lose touch with their surroundings, looking like manufactured playgrounds.

Thoughtful, cautious development has always set Kiawah Island apart. Just 45 minutes from Charleston, the barrier island's unique topography of towering trees, sand dunes, salt marshes, miles of beaches and the crashing ocean surf make for a photographer's dream. Kiawah Island Golf Resort has grown into a world-class destination - complete with a five-star hotel, five-star spa and five-star golf course - without intruding on the charms of the surrounding Lowcountry.

Change never comes that quickly at Kiawah. After all, the 255-room Sanctuary Hotel opened in 2004 after more than a decade of planning. The seaside mansion, a Mobile 5-Star award-winner two straight years, seems to kiss the surf without trespassing upon the beach.

The first floor was raised 20 feet to provide unobstructed ocean views, a concept legendary architect Pete Dye used in building Kiawah Island's famed Ocean course as well. Two grand staircases on either side of the lobby are complimented by three-story murals of the marshes. Most of the rooms, decorated with four-poster beds and ample space, offer balconies that open to a courtyard and the ocean.

The resort continues to be among the country's leaders in the "green" movement with its environmental practices. Kiawah's other green movement, its five golf courses, are similarly lauded. The Ocean course, site of the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches (known as the 'War by the Shore') and the 2012 PGA Championship, is one of the miracles of modern design. The completion of the $22-million Ocean course clubhouse in late 2007 greatly enhanced one of the purest golf experiences in America. There are spots inside the Ryder Cup bar where guests can watch the sun come up and the sunset on the horizon without moving.

The 24,000-square-foot clubhouse provides the perfect place to unwind after battling the ferocious 8,000-yard beast. Caddies warn players that the Ocean course plays at least 10 shots harder than their home track.

Dye's Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Golf Digest rated it the toughest golf course in America in 2007, but that should come with a caveat. The Ocean course will only feel cruelly unfair if you make two deadly mistakes: playing from the wrong tees or teeing it up without a caddie (there is no extra charge for a caddie after your greens fee, just a $65 recommended tip). Dicey weather - and howling winds - can also change your fortunes for the worse.

The Ocean course has certain elements of links golf, like stiff winds and long putts. But the layout plays more like a links hybrid, with difficult-to-hold elevated greens, massive waste bunkers and a harrowing carry over water to the 17th green - all characteristics of American resort golf.

Some players in the 2007 Senior PGA Championship complained about the course's steep bunker faces, so they might be revamped in time for the 2012 PGA Championship, according to resort spokesman Michael Vegis. No matter what changes occur between now and then, the course will be a fearsome test for the world's best golfers.

Kiawah's Other Golf Courses

The other four courses at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, including Jack Nicklaus' Turtle Point, Gary Player's Cougar Point and Tom Fazio's Osprey Point, are so dramatically normal they provide quite a contrast. All are rated at least 4 stars by Golf Digest. Osprey Point delivers some of the most picturesque holes on the island, notably the par-3 third and 11th holes and the monstrous par-4 ninth. The latter is forgiving off the tee, making it a local favorite.

Turtle Point, designed in 1991 after Nicklaus finished working with Dye at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C., wanders through forest before climaxing with three beachfront holes. The green on the par-3 14th sits wedged between resort villas on the left and dunes on the right. Hooked tee shots on the 385-yard No. 14 will fly the fence along the dunes, ending up on the beach. The 179-yard 16th is the strongest hole of the three, demanding a confident swing to avoid the natural scrub and a front bunker.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort's Southern Hospitality

Away from the courses, resort guests are pampered with service that lives up to the highest standards of Southern hospitality.

The restaurant scene at the resort has been revamped, adding even more variety. The clubhouse at Turtle Point now houses Tomasso, an Italian-themed eatery serving family favorites like pizza and spaghetti. With the addition of the Atlantic Room inside the Ocean course clubhouse two years ago, Kiawah Island is transforming the Sanctuary's Ocean Room into a high-end steakhouse along the lines of Ruth's Chris. Golfers are sure to welcome the change.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort's luxurious spa continues to add treatments that highlight a connection to Mother Nature. The "signature massage" mixes heated grain- and herb-filled wraps, used to relax the muscles, with traditional massage. Be sure to arrive early (and stay late) to take advantage of a soothing mineral hot tub inside the locker room.

Guests almost always feel much better afterward, refreshed and ready to return to the real world. Or better yet, they are replenished enough to seek revenge against that fickle Ocean course.

Story By Jason Scott Deegan

www.kiawahresort.com

After Ocean Course Beats You Up, Head For Kiawah Resort's More Peaceful Osprey Point

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - Once you've experienced the famed and daunting Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, you'll probably be in need of a friendlier kind of golf course, and Kiawah's Osprey Point course just down the road is your haven.

Shielded from the fierce, ocean winds and playing through a scenic and wild maritime forest filled with oaks and magnolias on Kiawah Island, architect Tom Fazio has built a course that is easy on the eyes - and your scorecard - compared to its sterner Pete Dye neighbor.

Osprey Point isn't necessarily easy - no course with the threat of water or out-of-bounds on every shot can be to the wandering mid or high handicapper. The first hole is an uncomfortable drive that requires shaking off a small tree that sits in front of the tee. But good shots here are rewarded, and slightly off-line shots won't find trouble in most cases. In typical Fazio fashion, fairways are, for the most part, wide and welcoming. Green complexes feature heavy bunkering but usually safer bail-out zones as well.

Wildlife is especially abundant here. The starter warns to be on the lookout for alligators at every turn, but plenty of other species serve as your gallery here. Swooping birds fly overhead, families of turtles lounge in the rough alongside alligators and on the par-3 11th hole for instance, jumping fish with seemingly no regard for your stroke splash away as you line up your putt.

You have the option to hit your driver on every tee. The par-4 ninth is a wildly fun driving hole. The course's longest par 4 at 468 yards from the championship tees, it plays well over water before allowing you to cut off as much as you can for your second shot. For big hitters, the hole that will have you licking your chops the most is the short par-4 seventh hole. It's only 300 yards from the white tees and features a heavily mounded fairway that shields the green from view. A penal bunker to the left of the green corrals aggressive tee shots, while another short and right makes lay-ups uncomfortable.

The most difficult aspect of Osprey Point is that each hole is generally framed by woods or water, so sprayed tee shots will likely be lost among the marsh.

There are a handful of strategic, short par 4s that add a great deal of excitement to the round. The par-4 seventh hole is a little more than 300 yards, and a giant mound online between the tee and the green can infuse some indecision from the tee. But bunkering well short of the green makes it an uncomfortable lay-up. You've paid a lot of dough to play this course, though; unleash the big dog over the mound and see what happens. The worst that can happen is you'll find yourself in a green-side bunker.

The par-5 18th offers up a chance at birdie with a good drive, as the green - while guarded on the left by water - can be reached in two and has some run-up space in front of the green.

The Verdict on Kiawah's Osprey Point course

Osprey Point is another feather in the cap for the renowned Kiawah Island Golf Resort. It's an exciting play on beautiful lowcountry marshland. Fazio's design caters more to the resort golfer than the tour pro, with a championship yardage topping out at just under 7,000 yards and numerous holes where pars and birdies are a possibility for the amateur player.