Sea Island (Retreat)

The Sea Island Resort on St Simons Island lies halfway between Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida on the Atlantic coast, where the resort has operated since the late 1920s. Harry Colt’s design partner Hugh Alison laid out one of the first 9-hole circuits on the property (now part of the Seaside course) and a variety of architects have made their mark here down the years, including Walter Travis who designed the original Plantation nine in 1927.

Dick Wilson fashioned a Retreat loop in the 1950s, Joe Lee added more holes in the 1970s and both Tom Fazio and Rees Jones carried out renovations here during the 1990s. Sea Island’s touring professional Davis Love III (host for the PGA Tour’s annual RSM Classic event on the Seaside and Plantation courses) redesigned the Retreat course along with his younger brother and former caddie, Mark Love, at the start of the new millennium.

Making noticeable changes to fairway widths and greens complexes the brothers created an original design that’s dramatic but playable, despite adding 300 yards to the overall length to increase the challenge. Bounded by massive Georgia pines, native oaks and natural waste areas, the holes on the Retreat provide a memorable golf experience as they wind their way around the property.