Elite Traveler Spring 2020

INSPIRE TOP GOLF

GOLDEN AGE IDEALS SEA ISLAND RESORT, SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA, USA Following a yearlong redesign and renovation conducted by Love Golf Design, Sea Island Resort’s Plantation Course recently reopened with the same name; however, those familiar with the course’s previous iteration will discover that not much of that remains, save for its general layout. In fact, those who have played other courses conceived by brothers Mark and Davis Love III likely will struggle to identify many similarities between those layouts and this one. As Davis acknowledges, that has always been his goal. “I don’t want people to walk out and say, ‘Well, that’s a Davis Love course,’” he says. Given the original course’s revered history — it began as a nine-hole layout designed in 1928 by Walter Travis, but had lost much of that identity following redesign efforts over the years — the Love brothers decided to incorporate several of their favorite Golden Age design elements, creating a contemporary course that felt strongly rooted in the resort’s long history. “I’ve never been as excited,” Davis said during the middle of the redesign efforts, “being able to take this property, which has been here for so long, and to create a golf course that could have been a Golden Age course.” In addition to the inclusion of railroad ties, sharply angled bunkers and greens, and recognizable classic design features like the Principal’s Nose bunker — a famous characteristic of the 16th hole at the Old Course at St Andrews — the Love brothers’ work drastically lowered many of the holes, which opened up views of the Atlantic Ocean and St Simons Sound. seaisland.com

Photos Sea Island, Pinehurst Resort