The view is doing you a favor. The wind probably isn’t.
For our Winter 2026 issue, Geoff Nudelman explored eight golf holes where the shoreline is part of the challenge. Pacific cliffs, Atlantic breezes, Lake Michigan, and a familiar Florida bay all make an appearance. Even a rough scorecard gets a very good backdrop.
1. Pebble Beach Golf Links, California
Hole 7 · Par 3
A short hole with a very large reputation. The tee shot drops toward a small green on a rocky point, with the Pacific wrapped around it. It is easy to get distracted before you swing. The wind, bunkers, and water reward a little more concentration.
2. Bandon Dunes, Oregon
Hole 16 · Par 4
The landscape opens up and suddenly you are looking out over the edge of the continent. This short par 4 gives golfers a choice: challenge the dune that divides the fairway or hold back for a longer approach. A green near the cliff’s edge makes the decision feel rather consequential.
3. Whistling Straits, Wisconsin
Straits Course, Hole 13 · Par 4
Not every great shoreline belongs to an ocean. “Cliff Hanger” follows Lake Michigan, with a downhill approach and a green whose slopes keep you honest. Landing on it is one thing. Landing in the right spot is another.
4. Torrey Pines South, California
Hole 3 · Par 3
From the elevated tee, the Pacific stretches toward La Jolla. Hang gliders and paragliders sometimes share the view. Below all that scenery is a demanding shot: an angled green, a canyon to the left, and ocean wind with its own ideas about where your ball should go.
5. Mauna Kea, Hawaiʻi
Hole 3 · Par 3
Lava rock and breaking waves frame a carry across the ocean on the Kohala Coast. There is no separating the shot from its setting here. Choosing a club means accounting for the water in front of you as well as the breeze coming across it.
6. Princeville Makai, Kauaʻi
Hole 7 · Par 3
Mountains behind you, Pacific below you, and plenty to think about between tee and green. On Kauaʻi’s north shore, changing wind and low cloud can alter the picture quickly. The walk across the ravine to the tee is a good reminder to look up once in a while.
7. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Hole 17 · Par 3
Pete Dye made the water impossible to ignore. A line of vertical timbers fronts the green, emphasizing the carry from the tee. Short is wet. Long brings bunkers into play. Add the nearby Atlantic and its shifting wind, and this becomes as much a test of nerve as distance.
8. Burnt Pine Golf Club, Florida
Hole 14 · Par 3
Back in Northwest Florida, Sandestin’s Burnt Pine sits in Miramar Beach, west of Scenic Highway 30A. Its 14th hole plays over natural marshland with Choctawhatchee Bay beyond. Rees Jones’ design pairs that open view with subtle green contours and coastal wind. A familiar landscape, with no easy promises.
These photographs and course descriptions come from our magazine archive. Course access, tee arrangements, and playing conditions vary; check directly with each club before planning a round.
Adapted from “Where Land, Sea, and Strategy Meet” by Geoff Nudelman in Beach Happy Magazine, Winter 2026, Issue 23. Photography from the original feature. Pebble Beach: Jeff Marsh. Whistling Straits: courtesy of Destination Kohler. Read the original issue.
