The Ocean Course: An American Icon

From the back tee, you’re as far from the Atlantic as The Ocean Course allows, yet the view from here looks right into the rolling surf, framed by ancient live oaks. Decide how much of the salt marsh to bite off with your tee shot. Then, depending on wind direction, you can go for the elevated green set between two sand ridges.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This is a difficult hole with two crossings over marshes—you can’t touch those wetlands here. But good players have a wide-open fairway and the green should be reachable in two. There’s no water around the green, nothing but sand.

From an island-like tee, you’ll fire across the marsh to an extremely wide fairway. The best drives will find the plateau on the left side of the fairway where you can get the best look at the putting surface. Even a half wedge can be treacherous. Players missing this green will face a very difficult up and down.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This is one of the most unusual holes on the course with the green on flattened sand dune next to the marsh. Better players will go at this elevated, tabletop green with a 9-iron or pitching wedge. Let it fly off the tee—this is probably one of the widest fairways on the course.

The most difficult hole on the outward nine, the second shot to a large green can be played with nearly every club in the bag, from an 8-iron up. Playing against the wind, you may opt to bail out to the left of this green and try to save par with a chip or even a putt from the extended collar area.

Pete Dye’s Comment: As one of the longer 4s from the back tees—players will have to let it fly. It’s strictly a driving hole. There is a bailout area in the front left of the green. If the pin is on the left side of the green, you can bounce it on.

You’ll survey an hourglass green running away diagonally from the right. A large natural sand area runs from the tee to green ending in a steep face that cuts into the middle. You must hit the appropriate portion of this largest green on the golf course or face a very difficult two putt.

Pete Dye’s Comment: The majority of time, the wind is off your left shoulder. The better player will go at it with a 3- or 4-iron. There’s a bailout area on the right for non-pro players that should have you coming out with par, but watch for the sand on the front-left side of the green.

The perfect drive is one directly at the center oak with a slight draw, eliminating trouble from a natural sand area and pond to the left. The green is open in front, but protected left and right by more sand. Expect to see many approach shots finding the center portion of this narrow, deep green.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This plays best right to left off the tee, with wind off your left shoulder. The landing area is not very generous, but there is nothing in front so you can roll a ball onto it. The bunker on the left (two-thirds of the way back) shouldn’t be a problem if you drive in the fairway.

Here, wind conditions will determine the strategy for the tee shot as you must decide whether to carry a natural dune area that intrudes into the fairway from the right or play left of it. Once that decision is made, the second shot can be fired at a slightly elevated green that is open in the front.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This fairway is monumentally wide, and bunkering and grass mounding around the green is not severe. Pros go for this green in two, but the green itself is a challenge with a good amount of contour major dip in it.

This seemingly simple hole will become more difficult the further the pin is cut into its elevated green. Framed by tall live oaks just off its front left corner, it becomes narrower as it extends away from the tee. Any missing long or right shots will find the sand.

Pete Dye’s Comment: The only key here is the front part of the approach to the green is short grass. Into the wind, it’ll be an easy hole, but downwind it could be a nightmare with players having to hit it short hoping it bounces up there. The water behind the green shouldn’t come into play.

A wide fairway sloping down from the right makes driving length more important than direction. The putting surface is open in the front but presents plenty of tough up-and-down chances from an assortment of grassy swale and deep sand areas both left and right.

Pete Dye’s Comment: The big deal on this hole is that the green is a little bit offset, so the ball has to be turning right to left on the second shot or you’ll have to carry it to the green. Downwind it’ll be a driver, 7-iron, but into the wind it could be a driver, long iron.

A drive down the left-center to the crest of the fairway will set up a second shot to a green set down into the dunes. Players are faced with a large sand area to the left front of the green and a deeper, steep faced sand area to the back.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This tee is elevated atop a sand dune for a panorama of the back nine. The driving area is very liberal with the fairway rolling right into the ground-level green. Pro players can hit driver and short irons to birdie it. It’s very comparable, but in the reverse direction, to No. 1.

The key to this hole is an accurate lay-up. Off the tee, you must avoid sand areas right of the fairway. For the second shot, it’s better to lay back on the right side, taking the sand area left out of play. A good lay-up will leave a pitch to a putting surface set atop a dune ridge.

Pete Dye’s Comment: Players must hit the fairway, but there’s no reason not to. The second shot must be placed in a very narrow area to get into position to pitch to the green. Holding this elevated green should be easy, except from the right-hand side of the fairway.

This hole boasts the widest fairway on the course, which gives way to one of the narrowest approaches. A good drive sets up a downhill second to the green. Though narrow, the approach is open in the front, with a rolling collar area providing the players some room to miss left.

Pete Dye’s Comment: Miss your tee shot right or left and it’s disaster. You don’t realize how much of an opening there is going into the green—but it appears to be very narrow from your second shot area. Of course, undulations in front of the green make a bump and run tricky.

This may be the most difficult hole on the inward nine. The canal running down the entire right side will certainly come into play on tee shots. You must decide just how far down the canal you’ll try to carry, setting up a demanding approach.

Pete Dye’s Comment: There are definitely two different holes here. One hole is way back, 470 yards, and the landing area is very wide, about 180 feet. But I built another tee, 400 yards or so, with a very narrow landing area. It’s a good hole from either tee.

This is perhaps the most beautiful hole on The Ocean Course, but also one of the most treacherous. A tee shot missing this severely exposed and elevated green will leave a severe uphill chip or pitch to save par, and the putting surface is the most exposed on the entire course.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This hole—after the flat greens at 12 and 13 and the change in wind since the course is going back eastward now—will make players think. They’ll likely need between a 2- and 4-iron to hit the green.

This seemingly straightforward hole often gets overlooked, much to the player’s peril. The tee shot must find the fairway to set up a mid-iron into the green set down into a natural dune area, making it difficult to determine wind speed and direction.

Pete Dye’s Comment: There are two championship tees here as well—just like 13 only in reverse. There’s a big landing area from way back and the green is the same elevation as the fairway, and you can bounce it in from right to left. It’s a small green, but very receptive on the right-hand side. Another tee at 395 yards gives you a very narrow driving area. It can play long or short like 13, but it’ll be with an iron if the tee is up.

Downwind, this hole will provide a great chance for birdie or eagle, with many players going for the green in two. Those that successfully navigate the extremely deep and dangerous sand area guarding the left side of this green will set themselves up for a late charge.

Pete Dye’s Comment: The advantage is to play down the right side and have a panorama of the second shot. Downwind, better players can reach it in two. There’s a big opening on the right side with a grass swale in front of the green. This is the best approach.

On No. 17, the target appears narrow and is fiercely guarded by water short and to the right, with two deep sand areas to the left. Golfers that play this hole even par will certainly be rewarded.

Pete Dye’s Comment: The tee shot is all carry over water, a very demanding par 3 and my favorite here. There are sea oats and big dunes behind the green, which is almost a double green with a front and back landing area. There’s a small bailout area to the left of the green with water right up to the front. The green will call for a variety of shots, depending upon the pin positions and wind.

The best drives on No. 18 will hug the right side of the fairway. The wind determines whether players fire at the flag with mid irons or simply try to hit the green with long irons or fairway metals.

Pete Dye’s Comment: This hole must be played left to right because the dunes on the right are much more severe than any other hole on the course. I think it’s the best of the par 4s on the course.