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This ten- mile stretch of paradise called Johns Island, South Carolina is an advertisement all on its own. So, I'm going to do my best to not sound like an ad, but it really is hard not to. Just look at the beautiful golf courses that have been created among beautiful nature escapes. The Kiawah Island Golf Resort owns all five of the championship courses here. They also have tennis and a spa, but I'm not talking about those because then that would be free advertising.

What makes the golfing here on Kiawah Island (also called Johns Island), so very relaxing and so incredibly wonderful? How's this; picture yourself playing 18 holes of golf right next to the ocean. Warm sea breezes gently relax your entire body so that you aren't tense and rigid. Then you can take your time crafting a wonderful winning stroke of expertise.

Each of the five courses on Kiawah Island is the ultimate dream course and has been designed by a pro. Each course offers its own panoramic view of all that nature has to offer. And each course has a natural landscape that can make it easy, or more challenging to make that next shot. This island paradise will play host to the 2012 94th PGA Tournament.

Here are the five championship golf courses:

The Ocean Course is aptly named because it has been created right next to the Atlantic Ocean. It affords a gorgeously designed course that offers a panoramic view of the Atlantic. A more challenging game of golf can be had at this course, due to the winds coming from the Ocean. You just might be able to use those sea breezes to your advantage. The Ocean Course is located at the eastern end of the island, and was designed by Pete Dye.

Oak Point was acquired in 1997 and is a Clyde Johnston designed golf course. This course was created on a former tomato and indigo plantation. Johnston molded this course from the rolling landscape into a first class layout of undulating fairways and somewhat challenging greens. It's very close to the Kiawah River and is surrounded by maritime forest. It also is more of a throwback course to the 1920's offering for more thought power than muscle power.

Golf Digest ranked Turtle Point Golf Course at 4.5 stars in 2004. The master himself, Jack Nicklaus, designed Turtle Point Golf Course. He designed Turtle Point to make it more of a challenging course for people to strategize before taking that championship stroke. This course has been home to many golf tournaments including Carolina's PGA, and Carolina's Amateur. It's more of a low profile course with fairways and green settings blended into the existing landscape.

Osprey Point is a Tom Fazio designed course. Enough can't be said about all of the golf courses here, but this one is stunning. It was designed with a magical background of nature featuring four large natural lakes, fingers of salt-water marshes, and dense maritime forests with beautiful live oaks, pines, palmettos and magnolias. This course also was rated number 10 among 50 courses in Golf for Women magazine. Osprey Point is one of the favorites for the average player, and has seen a recent facelift.

Originally named Marsh Point, the Cougar Point course was re-designed by Gary Player in 1996. Every shot is a good one on this golf course, because it offers some of the most panoramic views ever. It offers a great blend of short and long par 4's and extremely scenic and somewhat more challenging par 3's. In other words you have to put your thinking cap on with this course.

Kiawah Island offers spectacular golfing on championship courses designed by the pros. It's a dream golfing vacation wrapped up in old Southern charm just waiting to happen.

Learn more about this author, Kate Johns.
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