It South Carolina it's referred to as "the putt", the seminal moment of the 1991 Ryder Cup on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. The permutations were simple. Bernhard Langer had to hole a six-foot putt and Europe would retain the Ryder Cup.
It slid by the hole. Hale Irwin became an American hero, and a Ryder Cup, dubbed "War on the Shore", was guaranteed a place in the golfing annals. So too the Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course, the backdrop to a riveting three days of golf.
Almost overnight the signature course on Kiawah Island, a sanctuary 13 miles long by three miles wide, became one of the "must play" courses in the United States. Ten holes that border the Atlantic Ocean, the other eight cut through the marshes and dunes, offered a links-feel and spectacular views.
Dye though was not satisfied and having tweaked the layout moderately prior to the 1997 World Cup, he returned in the summer of 2002, with a fresh perspective, manifest in new sketches. This week, the Ocean Course once again, hosts the World Cup but it has undergone major surgery.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley triumphed in 1997 but conceded that they were intrigued to view Dye's new vision. It was a four-month project that included the enlarging of many tee-boxes while, new ones were constructed on four specific holes. All tee-boxes were resodded with a high salt-tolerant strain of grass, Paspalum.
He modified much of the bunkering and reseeded the greens with TifEagle Bermuda, a hybrid grass strain successfully employed at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Turtle Point. The most significant changes took place on the second, fourth and 18th holes.
On the second, the tee shot landing area was enlarged with the second marsh crossing - about 110 yards from the green - defined and banked to make it more visible. It was deemed a conscious effort to make the hole fairer.
The fourth saw more fairway cultivated to make a wider landing area and the construction of three pot bunkers on the right; these alterations guarantee a hole that turns left to right, offering players a better angle coming into the green. The tee-box was raised while the fairway was scooped providing a better view of the marsh.
Perhaps the most glaring change is that to the 18th hole. The entire green was transplanted 25 yards towards the ocean, an original concept for Dye, but one that he didn't implement when the course was first built. Standing on top of the hill a player's second shot is hit directly at the rolling breakers of the Atlantic Ocean rendering a dramatic finishing hole even more picturesque.
Immediately after the World Cup construction will start on a new $20 million golf village to complement the Ocean Course and is scheduled for completion in spring 2005. A new clubhouse with ocean view lodging will be built on the ashes of the old 18th green.
But first there is the small matter of the World Cup and a chance for some of golfing's elite to pit themselves against Dye's vision while enjoying the test of one of America's great golf courses.
OCEAN COURSE ROLL OF HONOUR
1991 - 29th Ryder Cup
1997 - World Cup
1999 - Shell Wonderful World of Golf
2001 - Delta Pro Celebrity Challenge
2001 - UBS Warbug Cup
2003 - World Cup
2005 - PGA Club Professional Championship
