Plantation Course at Sea Island Golf Club

The Plantation Course is Sea Island's Golden Age homage, rebuilt in 2019 by Davis Love III and his brother Mark on a stretch of St. Simons Island that has hosted golf since Walter Travis laid out the original nine holes in the 1920s. The site has seen Dick Wilson in the 1960s and Rees Jones in the 1990s before the Loves, who grew up playing here, undertook a complete reimagining. The result is a 7,058-yard par 72 that feels both new and historically rooted.

The design philosophy is strategic width. Fairways are wider than those on the Seaside Course, and the visual presentation from the tee invites an aggressive line. The subtlety lies in the green complexes, which reward specific angles of approach and punish others. A drive to the centre of the fairway leaves a playable approach. A drive to the narrower preferred side leaves a better one.

Live oaks define the routing's character, old enough and large enough to create natural corridors without claustrophobia. Spanish moss filters the light, and several holes open from oak corridors into marsh views that arrive as a surprise. The par 3s are the architectural strength of the round. Each uses a different combination of length, wind exposure, and green contour, from short precision tests to longer carries that demand a hybrid into a target that only reveals its full shape from the correct angle.

The 135 slope sits below the Seaside's 141, which reflects the wider corridors rather than easier golf. Recovery options are more varied here, and the tee-to-green experience is more forgiving while the greens still demand thoughtful approach play.

The most architecturally interesting round on Sea Island. Wider corridors, smarter green complexes, and a Golden Age sensibility that earns the label.