...Carolina Golf News Line

Kiawah Island Golf Resort reaping ranking/rating bonanza in recent issues of top golf publications


Travel + Leisure Golf magazine names Kiawah No. 1 Resort in U.S.; GOLF magazine names The Ocean Course No. 3 in latest “Best Places to Play” ranking; Golf Digest magazine awards The Ocean Course perfect 5 stars and the resort’s other four courses a near-perfect 4½ stars in latest “Best Places to Play” ratings

Kiawah Island, SC (Wednesday, August 23, 2006) – Kiawah Island Golf Resort placed highly in a triumvirate of recent golf magazine rankings, including achieving the lofty designation of top golf resort in the United States.

The top resort ranking was announced in the cover story of Travel + Leisure Golf magazine’s September 2006 issue. The magazine’s comprehensive reader’s poll for 2006 asked readers to rate hundreds of properties throughout the world. Kiawah Island out-polled such noted resorts as Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Bandon Dunes, Sea Island and The American Club/Kohler. Results of the poll were announced in the magazine, which featured a cover shot of The Ocean Course.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with this honor,” says Roger Warren, president of Kiawah Island Golf Resort. “Our efforts to become the No. 1 golf resort in the world are dependent not only on our improved facilities, but also on how well we treat each and every guest. This ranking shows that we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

In addition to the top resort ranking, The Ocean Course, site of the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches, the 2007 Senior PGA Championship and 2012 PGA Championship, moved up to number three in GOLF magazine’s 2006 list of the “Top 100 You Can Play.” The prestigious compilation of the finest public-access courses in the U.S is published every two years. Kiawah’s renowned links-style course moved up from the eighth position in 2004 and is now behind only Pacific Dunes and Pebble Beach. The next-highest ranking course in South Carolina is Harbour Town (No. 15) at The Sea Pines Resort.

Readers of Golf Digest magazine have also bestowed high ratings upon Kiawah Island Golf Resort and its five golf courses. The Ocean Course maintained its 5-star status — one of only 17 public access golf courses in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean to earn the ultimate distinction —while all four of the resort’s other courses garnered near-perfect 4½-star ratings. 

These exceptional ratings were part of Golf Digest’s latest “Best Places to Play” reader’s poll, a summary of which was released in Golf Digest’s May 2006 issue with the complete results compiled in book form (Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play) listing the top 4,000 courses of nearly 8,000 courses that were rated.

The entire resort was noted for its high level of service, while every course on the resort was noted for excellent pace of play. Both Osprey Point Golf Course and Oak Point Golf Course were noted as best values in the state of South Carolina.

“As with past ‘Best Places to Play’ ratings, I am very pleased with this recognition by the readers of Golf Digest magazine,” says Warren. “I’m especially proud of the improvements made at both Osprey Point (4 to 4½ stars) and Oak Point (3½ to 4½ stars). The ratings on all of our courses are a great reflection on the high service standards of our head golf professionals, superintendents and staffs — in fact, all the employees of Kiawah Island Golf Resort.”

It is more than just golf that is turning heads at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Tennis magazine has named it the No. 1 tennis resort in the U.S. while the top tennis vacation web site, www.tennisresortsonline.com, has named it the No. 1 tennis resort in the world. Additionally, the Charleston Post & Courier newspaper has named The Sanctuary’s Ocean Room restaurant as Charleston’s “Restaurant of the Year,” an impressive accolade considering the quality of dining in one of the South’s top culinary centers.

Located just a short 35-minute drive from beautiful and historic Charleston, South Carolina, Kiawah Island Golf Resort lies along 10 miles of uninterrupted Atlantic Ocean beach, rated as one of America’s top 10 beaches by The Travel Channel. Guests can choose from close to 600 villas and luxury homes and the 255-room Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, which boasts a nature-based spa, fine dining and handsome meeting space. The resort features two award-winning tennis complexes, a variety of restaurants and lounges, and 10 miles of Atlantic beach. 

For more information about Kiawah Island Golf Resort, please call (888) 854-2924 or visit online at http://www.kiawahgolf.com/. For more information on The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, visit www.TheSanctuary.com or call (877) 683-1234.

For more information about Kiawah Island Real Estate or the private Kiawah Island Club, please call (800) 277-7008 or visit www.kiawahisland.com.