FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATIONS
The courses at Sea Island are anything
but a straight-line trajectory from the
property’s original opening in 1926, when
it was purchased with the purpose of the
game in mind.
Here’s a quick tutorial.
Currently, the three 18s consist of the
aforementioned Seaside and Plantation
tracks, as well as the Retreat Course. That’s
the easy part, and probably the one you
should remember. However, their histories
are a jumbled mix and match of 91 years
of golf.
The original Seaside Nine opened in
1929. It was retrofitted and fused with the
Marshside Nine (opened in 1974) by Tom
Fazio in 1999 to create what is now the
Seaside Course.
“When Tom was getting ready to redo it,
Davis said if he was going to change any-
thing on the original nine, he was going to
lay down in front of the bulldozer,” Veal
said. “He did not do that. He left Mr. Fazio
to do his work. … He really blew it up and
changed it.”
Although carts are available, Veal men-
tioned that it was laid out with walkers
in mind. It gives them the opportunity to
better gauge shot selection dictated by the
wind on this true links course.
Located adjacent to Seaside, but with a
different feel, will be the newest rendition
of the Plantation Course. The original
Plantation Nine, Sea Island’s first course,
opened in 1928. It was merged with the
original Retreat Nine (opened in 1960 as
the property’s third course) by Rees Jones
in 1998. It stood for 20 years like that
until Love III and his brother, Mark, were
charged with updating it.
In October 2019, the latest rendition is
scheduled to open.
“Where there were a lot of raised greens,
a lot of raised fairways, they’re taking all
the dirt down so you’ll be able to see all the
way through the golf course to the ocean,
certainly on every hole on the back side
and a fair amount of holes on the front
side,” Veal said.
The third track is also a bit confusing in
the name category. What was originally the
St. Simons Island Golf Club was purchased
by the Sea Island owners and later con-
verted by the Love brothers into the new
Retreat Course in 2001. It is considered
the easiest of the three current options,
if for no other reason that bump-and-run
golf exists with a lack of forced carries.
ABOVE: The Broadfield is home to Sea Island’s
5,800-acre Sporting Club and Lodge.
BOTTOM LEFT: The Golf Performance Center
at Sea Island is a state-of-the-art facility that
welcomes golfers of all ages and skill levels.
“For the better players, it still gives you
the pin position to make it a difficult course
to play on,” Veal said. “But from the mem-
bers’ perspective, a player’s perspective, it
gives you a very playable golf course.”
In March 2019, the newest version of the
Sea Island Golf Performance Center will
continue its upward trajectory of chang-
ing the game for the better for anyone
who sets foot inside. The 17,000-square-
foot complex will address every aspect of
the game.
Three main complexes—The Cloister,
The Lodge and The Inn at Sea Island—
compile the majority of stay at the resort.
They all have their selling points, the first
two having earned five-star ratings from
Forbes for a decade straight.
The Cloister houses the esteemed Geor-
gian Room—individually also rated as a
five-star by the publication, the only such
restaurant distinction in the state—an
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ON-SITE AMENITIES