Film legends take on Kiawah Island
"The Legend of Bagger Vance", a new film just released in the United States
which is directed by Robert Redford and stars Will Smith and Matt Damon,
looks destined to provide a new lease of life to the Ocean Course at Kiawah
Island in South Carolina - infamous venue of the 'war on the shore' Ryder Cup
in 1991.
From the moment Redford clapped eyes on the morning fog off the Atlantic
Ocean which clings eerily to the greens, the vicious gusts that blow drives
into swamps and putts off line, and the alligators skimming the marshes
seeking egrets and Titleists, he knew that Kiawah Island was the setting he
was looking for.
The story, based on the Steven Pressfield bestseller, is of black caddie
Bagger Vance who professes to have the secret of the perfect swing. He
advises Rannulph Junah, a white war hero who finds himself matched against
golfing greats Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in a two-round exhibition. Vance
is played by Smith and Junah by Damon.
Since the Ryder Cup, the Pete Dye-designed course, where green fees are
currently $225 (almost £160) and around 37,000 rounds are played each year,
has staged a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match between LPGA stars Annika
Sorenstam and Dottie Pepper in 1996 and, a year later, the World Cup of Golf
which was won by Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, representing Ireland.
For the film, though, Kiawah Island needed a little cosmetic surgery with Tom
Simpson, who shaped the greens for the original course, helping to design a
temporary $200,000 closing hole.
