Sea Island Plantation Course Review/Experience

vandyfan · March 25

Course: Sea Island Plantation (Green Tees - 5900 yds)
Date Played: 3/21/2025
Conditions: 60s, with gentle winds and mostly sunny

This past week I had the pleasure of playing the Sea Island Plantation course which was recently re-designed by Davis Love III and his brother, Mark. Originally a Walter Travis 9 hole course designed in 1928 which was then expanded to 18 holes, the Loves removed a bunch of bunkers (thank you) and widened it (also thank you) to make it more playable.

I was initially irritated when I got to the course and was told I could not walk without a caddie. To me, taking a golf cart at a course like this is akin to driving an F1 car at top speed through on a sight seeing visit through an old town. However, the golf gods shined down upon as I was a single playing with two fantastic canadian gentlemen who had a caddie, Tripp. Tripp was excellent and I would highly recommend him and we will revisit him often in this review. He told me just to throw my bag on his cart (the caddie drives a cart with your bags so you can walk) and I was ecstatic. (And yes, of course, I paid him his normal rate and then some at the end of the round.) So my round was saved. I would highly recommend this option even if you are, like me, not a huge fan of having someone carry your bag. You get to see the course in the best way and have some time between approach shots to reflect or re-engage.

The front 9 went well as I really enjoyed my two playing partners and my savior, Tripp the Caddie. He was excellent on the greens and quietly encouraging us to take on certain shots when he knew our games after a few holes. I was playing well so this was all very helpful. You have a few very gentle opening holes (off the tee) but you see the movement in the greens right away. Hole 3 is a mid-length par 3 that has a very high right side shelf that will feed balls 20-30 feet right up on landing on it. The first par 5 (#4) has water left and OB right but still is fairly wide and then you get into the teeth of the course with #5 that is one of the longer par 4s with trees on both sides and water long of the green. Hole 7 is a peninsula green that has several tiers in what is a large green. #8 is the most reachable par 5 and I had an 11 foot eagle putt there (missed of course) that Tripp gave me a perfect read on but I couldn't execute.

I started off the back 9 with a driveable par 4 with water all down the left. I stuck my drive right on the front of the green which was a highlight of the day, very fun hole. #11 is the longest par 3 with water short and right followed by #12 a par 4 with a sharp dogleg left that has a beautiful view of the clubhouse and water on the approach. Hole #15 might have been my least favorite as it is snap dogleg that forces to lay back a bit off the tee and is fairly one dimensional as far as holes go. Hole #17 was probably the most demanding tee shot of the day as the landing zone was fairly narrow and there is water down the left. Finishing up with a par 5 18th hole that curves along the water and has the clubhouse in the distance. There is a hero shot option to take it over the water and go for the green in two. Of course Tripp talked us into it and we all hit our second safely on or around the putting surface. Overall a great day and a great group. The Canadians were hilarious and had great stories and I was very appreciative that they welcomed me into their group and treated me like a friend instantly. It is not always like that as a single at a resort course. So aside from playing well it was a great overall experience. See the breakdown below.

Practice Facilities/Range (9/10)
I think these are always very important. Sea Island has a large member contingent and they have their own range, the "Guest" range section has fairly limited slots available to hit from (I would estimate 10-15) so on a busy day it can be hard to find a spot, which was my experience. There is also a good-great short game area with multiple bunkers and tightly mown pitching areas that mimic what you will see on the course. There are two putting greens, one of which is a putting "course" called the Speedway. Overall, on a quiet day I would say the practice facilities were excellent but the limited space on a busy day makes it a little less so. If you were a member, this place has everything you would want to get better.

Clubhouse (4/5)
I don't pay much attention or put much stock in clubhouses but the locker room is impressive. Dark wood and leather give it a secretive, old school high end private club feel. The pro shop has a ton of Sea Island swag. But, hey, let's get to the golf course already.

Routing/Width/Playability (18/20)
Most of the course is slightly inland with only #10 really having a view of the ocean. It moves through a residential area with houses that are visible but not really encroaching on the golf course. For a coastal golf course I would say this is fairly open with most landing zones being 50-60 yds wide and usually you had a side of the fairway you could miss that wouldn't be out of bounds. I hit driver fairly often despite the fact that I am generally pretty conservative so that should be a good indicator you don't have to play defensive golf. The course actually winds into itself a little bit so on some holes you can see 5-6 other golf holes as well. The land is fairly flat and most of the movement in the golf course is on and around the greens. There are a few "forced carries" but they generally are not long and in many cases where there is water there is a land option to go around it. Overall, if you select the correct tees, I think most people can get around this course without losing a ton of balls. Again, it is a coastal course so it is not as wide as I like but certainly wider than I expected.

Conditioning (8.5/10)
The course was just coming out of dormancy so there were a few thin patches but overall the course was in fabulous shape. The greens were great and ultra smooth. The fairways were decently lush for early spring and the rough was present but not penal. The bunkers were a little shallow, or to put another way could probably use some fresh sand but that would be my only real note.

Greens (9.5/10)
The greens are bermuda but not super grainy and have a significant amount of movement in them. I found them very fun to play and more than a few times I was the benefactor of some well positioned slopes. There were a lot of catch basins around the greens that gave even more movement and usually you could putt from fairly far away as the bermuda was mostly very tight around the greens. Greens were smooth without being insanely fast and I would say they were the appropriate speeds given how much slope some holes had. Most greens could be approached on the ground or in the air as the bunkering was generally on the sides of the hole giving you multiple options to play each hole.

Optionality (7/10)
This is something I look for in golf courses is how many holes give you multiple options off the tee? I would say this course is fairly straightforward what the decision is off the tee outside of maybe a few holes, most notably the driveable #10. But you get more options on the par 5s where there is usually a risk reward shot if you hit a good drive. So I would say you had to do most of your thinking on approach rather than off the tee. Generally you could hit it right side or left side of most holes and still have a clean approach but you had to be careful where you left your second because of the slopes in the green.

Favorite Hole(s)/Memorable Holes (6.5/10)
There was variety and flavor to the golf course but not a ton of truly standout memorable holes (neither great nor terrible). A lot of good solid holes and few standouts. I thought the par 3s were all well done and fairly different from one to the next. #10 was probably my favorite hole because it is a good birdie opportunity and gives you a chance to play it differently every time. The par 5s all had fun approach shots so I think the par 4s are where I was left wanting a bit.

Fun/Experience (14/15)
Had I driven a golf cart I know this score would be lower by a decent margin. Walking this course made me appreciate the approaches and walk up to each slopey green much more and our caddie of course elevated the experience. Not a ton of stressful tee shots makes a good score fairly possible as long as you don't get crushed by 3 putts on the greens. Again, as I mentioned above the course is probably the widest of the 3 so you can hit driver a good bit and not worry too much about losing balls. Conditions and weather were excellent so that of course helps out as well. I played well, really liked my group and all that contributed to a great day.

Value (7.5/10)
Sea Island is not cheap so even though I really liked the golf course, I cannot say it is a tremendous value but you get what you pay for. I would not and could not play here every day but as a resort treat I think it was great. The caddie fee I think is a good value if you get a caddie like Tripp and, again, if you are able I would walk this course as it is fairly connected (except for #9 to #10 where they will shuttle you on a cart) so definitely do that.

84 out of 100

Edited March 25 by vandyfan

dcmidnight · March 28

My wife and I love(d) Sea Island, it was one of our favorite spots to get away to before all the changes/cottages being added. Seems like now its almost grown too big for what they have there, especially when it comes to the range availability - I've heard a few people say that they got shutout of being able to hit balls. Too bad really, it used to be such a quiet spot.

Having lunch in the locker room is fantastic though.

vandyfan · March 28

@dcmidnight I agree, it seems like members now have overweighted priority….which I get because that “sustains” the facility but makes it worse for resort guests. The ease of the beach club and beach villas and cloister is great for kids and families though. I would say it is excellent for families and pretty good for golf.

DArnie · March 31

Did you play Seaside?

Sea Island is a great resort and their Performance Center is second to none.

The island has always been one of my favorite places to visit. A lot of good golf in the area.

dcmidnight · March 31

On 3/28/2025 at 1:58 PM, vandyfan said:

@dcmidnight I agree, it seems like members now have overweighted priority….which I get because that “sustains” the facility but makes it worse for resort guests. The ease of the beach club and beach villas and cloister is great for kids and families though. I would say it is excellent for families and pretty good for golf.

It was nice before because families would go to the Cloister and use the beach club/pool over there and the Lodge was always the "quiet side" for people who didnt want all that and it was *so quiet* there at night. Certainly is not that way any more and they want the Lodge to be more available to golf groups and families. Smart business decision I'm sure but there's a reason we havent been back.

vandyfan · March 31

8 hours ago, DArnie said:

Did you play Seaside?

Sea Island is a great resort and their Performance Center is second to none.

The island has always been one of my favorite places to visit. A lot of good golf in the area.

I did not play Seaside. I looked at both courses on GoogleEarthPro and watched drone videos and Plantation looked easier off the tee so I chose to play that one. It was understanding going in that Seaside is regarded as a better golf course but I had a ton of fun at Plantation despite some of my quibbles above. Ultimately, Seaside seemed a little challenging for me.

me05501 · March 31

3 hours ago, dcmidnight said:

It was nice before because families would go to the Cloister and use the beach club/pool over there and the Lodge was always the "quiet side" for people who didnt want all that and it was *so quiet* there at night. Certainly is not that way any more and they want the Lodge to be more available to golf groups and families. Smart business decision I'm sure but there's a reason we havent been back.

Naturally the promotional pictures of the places we want to visit are always focused on the property and amenities and setting but never on the gobs of other people who are going to be enjoying the place alongside you as a guest. I always have to remind myself that all those empty pool chairs or golf carts or theme park queues are gonna be filled with humans.

irish26 · July 30

Any comments on pace of play? I have a trip coming up in november. We have a 1:25pm tee time on the Plantation course with sunset being at 5:33pm. Might be tight.

LostEngineer · July 31

6 hours ago, irish26 said:

Any comments on pace of play? I have a trip coming up in november. We have a 1:25pm tee time on the Plantation course with sunset being at 5:33pm. Might be tight.

You’ll be fine. There’s still plenty of light at the astronomical “sunset”. You’ll probably be able to shower and start enjoying a cigar in the men’s locker room before it actually gets “dark”.

vandyfan · July 31

20 hours ago, irish26 said:

Any comments on pace of play? I have a trip coming up in november. We have a 1:25pm tee time on the Plantation course with sunset being at 5:33pm. Might be tight.

We were there slightly off cycle a few weeks before spring break and Plantation was fairly slow, particularly at the turn as 10 is a driveable par 4. That might be your indicator there.