Luck and impeccable timing are woven throughout the history of Kiva Dunes. The twosome played a critical role in the eventual creation of one of the Southeast's finest golf courses. University of Alabama undergraduate Jim "Scrappy" Edgemon was standing on a tee 160-yards away while waiting for a fellow student to complete some precision putting drills on the par 3 16th at the University course in Tuscaloosa when the distracted golfer finally waved him to hit up to the green. Edgemon did. The green-side golfer recalls thinking, "'Man, that looks pretty good.' It took one hop and started rolling toward the hole, so I pulled the pin and it went in for a one. That was my introduction to Scrappy Edgemon." The diligent putter was young Jerry Pate, eventual winner of the 1974 U.S. Amateur and the 1976 U.S. Open. Pate first laid his eyes on the ground that would become Kiva Dunes in 1985 and thinking, "Golf architects would kill for this piece of property." But when the time came to select an architect worthy of the land, Edgemon chose not Fazio, Nicklaus, Dye or any of the other top names eager to be associated with the property. He chose Pate. "He's been a winner at everything he's ever done," Edgemon says. "I'd seen his work and I knew his passion. I knew, when given the best land, he'd do the best job. And he did. Kiva Dunes is recognized all over the world as one of golf's best and most unique challenges." The partnership that began when two strangers shook hands over golf's one-in-a-million shot, the hole-in-one, today has tens of thousands of golfers high-fiving one another each year over a one-in-a-million golf course.
