Sunset over the ocean??

Did they say that was the ocean? It could be the beach along the sound. I'm not sure exactly where they were supposed to be playing. It looks like the actual location for that scene is Kiawah Island in SC.

It's possible that it was really sunrise but if it was actually really sunset then it could be that it was at a part of the beach inland that was facing west. That movie was filmed at Kiawah island so the part of the beach that curved around away from the ocean may have been at a place geographically where the sun set almost behind it. Remember also that the sun sets in different spots depending on what time of the year it is- it sets a little more to the south in the dead of winter and a little more to the north in the middle of summer. In nearby Mt. Pleasant and also on Sullivan's Island (both outside of Charleston) you can see the sunset over the water even though technically we are on the east coast. That is bc of the geography of the land- where it sort of curves around so that you can see water in the west with the sun setting behind it. However in the movie it looked like sunrise to me at the very end where Bagger is waving to the old man.

There are parts of the East Coast where the sun can set over the ocean. For example, the great Harbor Town golf course is on Calibogue Sound on the west side of Hilton Head island.

What's more of an issue with this shot is that there's still plenty of light in the sky when we see Bagger, but it is totally dark on the golf course at the same time.