Kiawah Island Club (Cassique)

The Kiawah Island Club should not be confused with Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Kiawah Island Club is an exclusive private members club for Kiawah Island property owners, so you’ll need to befriend one or perhaps buy a property here as part of the deal!

The Kiawah Island Club boasts two courses with the clubhouses separated in distance by a couple of miles – the River course designed by Tom Fazio, and the Cassique course. The Cassique was the first North American architectural ensemble of five-time British Open champion Tom Watson and it’s actually an impressive debut design.

Named after the Kiawah Indian chief who once hunted this land, the Cassique course opened for play in 2000 and it’s thoughtfully routed through maritime forests and along the salt marshes where the Kiawah River meets the mighty Atlantic.

Watson has fashioned an intriguing course and the Cassique has many links-like attributes, not least because it’s a course to walk rather than ride. Some holes will provide a reminder of links golf while others will tempt you into thinking you’re playing on a heathland track somewhere to the west of London.

A bunker renovation program was completed on the course at the end of 2018, using synthetic revetted faces from Durabunker with the Better Billy Bunker liner. The new sand hazards are now a mix of classic Golden Age-style bunkers and revetted, links-style traps, like the two on the 6th hole that closely resemble the “Spectacles” on Carnoustie’s 14th hole.

Now, do you fancy buying a slice of that Kiawah Island Club real estate?