GULF SHORES, Ala. — Kiva Dunes Golf Course sits in the far southwest corner of Alabama, on a peninsula so narrow that less than 1,200 yards separate Mobile Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a windy site situated on the type of terrain – “pure white sugar sand,” said former PGA Tour player Jerry Pate – that makes architects’ hearts flutter.
The course also has been known to make players’ hearts flutter; over the years it has ranked at or near the top of the list of Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in Alabama. (It currently is No.