CHARLESTON, SC - There’s an ocean of golf courses in the world. In fact, one scientist reportedly calculated that if all the golf courses on the globe were bunched together, they’d fill an ocean.

He never did say whether it would be the Atlantic, Pacific or Indian oceans but hey, who among us is going to challenge science.

All I know is that there’s some great courses located on the shores of oceans, including the granddaddy of them all, the Old Course at St. Andrews.

So, with apologies to Hollywood, I’d like to give you my first (and hopefully annual) Oceans 12 List — a dozen courses I’ve played in North America and the Caribbean and now expertly rank.

So, without further ado, or drum rolls, here’s my Oceans 12 list for 2007:

1 – The Ocean Course at Kiawha Island, S.C.

This course doesn’t get my No. 1 pick just because of its name. It earns it because it’s the toughest resort golf course in the United States. And if you don’t believe me, than just ask the judges at Golf Digest magazine, who awarded that Herculian title to the Ocean Course recently.

As far as I’m concerned, this is one of my favorite courses anywhere – on water or land. Pete Dye has created some masterpieces around the globe but the Ocean Course is his Sistine Chapel.

Dye had the Atlantic Ocean to work with and took full advantage, placing 10 of the 18 magnificent holes along the salty sea.

What this means is that no course outside Scotland or Ireland is more affected by the wind than the Ocean Course.

Thankfully the morning I played it, the wind that most days makes the flags stand at attention, was barely noticeable and that resulted in a respectable mid-80s score. My playing partner, who recorded a much better score that day, told me the previous time he played the wind-swept Ocean Course, he flirted with the century mark. The club marshals say when the wind blows, it could result in an eight-club difference on holes. Wow!

What makes the Ocean Course the best of this Distinguished Dozen is the different looks it gives players. The 10 holes along the Atlantic, with their waste bunkers and sand dunes, are breathtaking, but the early holes are through some of the prettiest countryside you’ll ever see.

This course is Hollywood lovely — that’s why the film industry used it as the backdrop for "The Legend of Bagger Vance”. Trust me, the course was the star of that flick.

The most memorable Ryder Cup of them all, the one dubbed the “War on the Shores” in 1991 that was one with the final putt, was held here and the players that competed in that historic event all agreed that it was the Ocean Course that made the event so even.

Golf doesn’t get much better than the Ocean Course.

2 – The Challenge at Manele, Lanai, Hawaii

It’s pretty hard to ignore a Hawaii-based golf course among the top five ocean courses on any list and I have two to offer, with this one very close to The Ocean Course as my best overall.

Much of this course’s strength comes from the natural cliffs and tpography that Jack Nicklaus built it around. The azure Pacific water just adds to this par-72’s beauty and the excitement of getting to Lanai from Maui – a stomach churning boat ride, I assure you – just adds to the excitement of playing here.

To stand in a lava tee box and look over some of the natural gorges that separate you and the green is one of the most intimidating moments you’ll ever experience in golf.

3- Pebble Beach, California

Back in 2004 when Golf Digest picked Pebble Beach as the No. 1 resort course in the world, there were few challengers. But the aforementioned Ocean Course and Challenge at Manele have surpassed this legend.

However, any course of which Jack Nicklaus says: “If I only had one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach,” can’t be ignored among my Top 5.

It’s still most golfers’ dream to play Pebble Beach before they die and that’s mostly because it offers one of the most spectacular settings in the game.

To walk up the 18th hole at Pebble Beach is a thrill any golfer would pay for – and at well over $300 a round now, it’s no cheap thrill.

4 – The Experience at Koele, Lanai, Hawaii

If I pick The Challenge at Manele among my Top 5, then surely its sister course, which shares the same great ocean scenery and lava typography, has to come close behind.

There’s a debate among golfers that this Greg Norman designed beauty is better than Nicklaus’ Challenge at Manele but for my money the ocean holes on the Challenge are what tips the scales in its favor.

Norman’s is more a mountain course with ocean vistas and many would debate that doesn’t quialify it for this list. I beg to differ because any course built on an island is surrounded by water and thus qualifies.

5 - Green Monkey, Barbados

Part of the spectacular Sandy Lane Resort – the place where Tiger Woods was wed — this is an ape of a course and you’ll need all the muscle you can muster to tame this beast. This is the King Kong of Caribbean courses and should be added to your “must play before I die” list. Just as Tiger.

6 – The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Bahamas

A good friend of mine named Sandy Gardner told me about this track that sits on a relatively unknown part of the Bahamas. Sandy is now my best friend. This beauty was carved along the rugged Atlantic by Scotland’s Tom Mackenzie and Donald Steele and is Scottish links in every way – minus the cold weather. There’s not a hole on this course that’s weak.

7 – Teeth of the Dog, Dominican Republic

This is the Caribbean’s Pebble Beach, without the huge greens fees. It’s ranked by Golf Magazine as the No. 1 course in the Caribbean – obviously the editors of that distinguished publication haven’t visited Barbados or the Bahamas lately – and while we don’t rank it that highly, Teeth of the Dog still has plenty of bite forn this dog’s game. This is Pete Dye at his best – a course with lots of tricky shots and plenty of dog legs. What else would you expect on a course called Teeth of the Dog.

8 – Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach, California

This is considered the poor man’s Pebble Beach but trust me, it’s a priceless experience with all the same great ocean vistas that you get at Pebble Beach but for a fraction of the price. Robert Trent Jones has made any great golf courses but he saved his best work for Spyglass.

9 – Mid Ocean Club, Bermuda

Any golf course that was Goerge Knudson’s favorite, has got to be mine as well. The Canadian golf icon holidayed in Bermuda every chance he got and it wasn’t because of the sun and sand – it was because he could play this ocean-side beauty, where the fairways fall off into the turqoise Atlantic. A senior writer for PGA.com once described said Mid Ocean ranks among the world’s great courses and I couldn’t agree more. This is a course where Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, George Bush and Babe Ruth teed it up and it hit a home run with me as well.

10 – The Conservatory Golf Course, Palm Coast, Fla.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing both courses at this Ginn Hyammock Beach Resort but for my money, the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory course edged out Jack Nicklaus’ Ocean Course and there’s not too many times Watson was able to beat the Golden Bear. The Conservatory course has the highest slope rating in Florida and is set amid man-made waterfalls, dramatic elevation changes, babbling brooks and ocean vistas that are simply breathtaking. Watch for this course to move up the Ocean’s 12 list in years to come.