The Ocean Course will host the Senior PGA and the 2012 PGA Championships. The Ocean Course will become only the fourth course to host each of the PGA of America's major championships.
Probably no other golf course in the world outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland is affected as much by the wind. From one round to the next, a player can experience up to an 8-club difference on holes depending upon the direction and strength of the wind. Built in 1991 by Pete Dye, there are no prevailing winds on the course. Dye took this into account when designing the course. In fact, he designed two courses into one — one for an easterly wind and one for a westerly wind. On the eastern, he suggested raising the entire course to allow players unobstructed views of Kiawah’s beautiful Atlantic coastline from every hole.
This improved view, however, made the course substantially more demanding as it also exposed it to the area’s brisk and unpredictable sea breezes. The Ocean Course has more seaside holes than any other course in the Northern Hemisphere — 10 right along the Atlantic with the other 8 running parallel to those.
