Sea Island (Seaside Course)

Bobby Jones teeing off at the Seaside Course

On a recent trip to Sea Island, Georgia to play Ocean Forest, I also had the opportunity to play the Seaside course. Golf at Sea Island has evolved over the years through the design of four separate nine-hole courses. The first nine hole course was designed by Walter Travis, and the second was a combined design of the original nine-hole Travis course plus a new set of nine holes designed by H.S. Colt and C.H. Alison. Colt and Alison's original design was changed again by Tom Fazio in 1999 as part of Sea Island's plan to change its four original nine-hole courses into two eighteen hole courses.

Having seen a lot of Alison's work in Japan, I think he is one of the finest architects the game has ever seen, though his best work doesn't get a lot of exposure because it is in Japan. His course designs in the United States are hard to see because they are at private clubs such as Burning Tree, Milwaukee Country Club and Century Country Club. Thus, the Seaside course is a rare opportunity to see the work of Alison. The course was designed prior to Alison's trip to Japan in the 1930s so it is some of his early work.

It is difficult to tell how much of the original design features of the Seaside course remains intact today. Having looked at course maps from various points in time, it looks like a meaningful amount has been changed. Yet, many of the original holes Colt and Alison designed do remain, even if some of the routing has changed. Most importantly, what are today's fourth and fifth holes are surviving examples of the original layout. The land the Seaside Course was built on was dredged out of the nearby marsh and steam shovels and mule teams were used to sculpt the land and move dirt.

Even though the private Ocean Forest course is ranked #84 in the world, I liked the public Seaside course better. Ocean Forest is over-rated because of who its members are, and Seaside is under-rated because it doesn't have eighteen great holes. However, the front nine at Seaside are so special that it is worth the trip to play it.

The Golf Course

1st green at Sea Island Seaside Course

The first unique thing you notice about the Seaside course are the distinctive red wicker baskets instead of hole flags, like those at Merion. Most of the green designs are like the first green seen above, with slopes and shaved areas that repel shots hit short away from the green. Most of the greens are small.

Of course, I jinxed myself by mentioning how great the weather was when I played Cypress Point. The golf gods were listening and got even, so the pictures here are not as brilliant as I would have liked, due to the cloudy and foggy day. On the bright side, it gives me an excuse to have to return to Sea Island and play again.

View from the second tee

The tee shot on the second hole shows off one of the principal design features the architects had to work with, namely, routing a course through the lowcountry marsh. Many holes have a forced carry off the tee like the one here.

The third green at the Seaside Course

The third green again shows the design feature of an inverted bowl with the oak trees in the background. This is a demanding 200 yard par three that normally plays in a crosswind.

Fourth hole looking toward the green

I've played some good golf holes in my day. The Road Hole at St. Andrews, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen at Carnoustie, the Island Green at Sawgrass, the Postage Stamp at Troon, the 15th and 16th at Cypress Point and the 18th at Pebble Beach. The fourth hole on the Seaside Course is right up there with them. Not only is the design brilliant, but with marsh and ocean as a backdrop, it is visually dramatic as well. A link to the best holes is here.

The 4th looking from the tee toward the flag in the distance to the left

The fourth hole is 421 yards on the card, but is one of the severest dog-legs in all of golf. The hole makes an acute left turn at 300 yards to a green situated on the other side of the marsh at a ninety degree angle from where you are standing on the tee.

The 4th carry off the tee over the marsh

The tee shot is a forced carry over marsh, and the left side of the fairway is preferred because it lessens the length of your second shot to the green. The entire left side of the hole is bordered by the marsh and White Heron Lake. If you play too safely, you end up in the bunkers on the right, so not only is it a nice risk-reward hole, it is one with a severe penalty for being too greedy and a penalty for being too conservative.

4th fairway

Your second shot to the green requires you to hit the ball a precise distance. Even if you play more conservatively and aim away from the marsh to the fairway approach, your distance has to be perfect or you will go into the marsh on the other side. The hole requires back-to-back perfectly placed risk-reward shots that places a premium on well struck balls and penalizes poorly struck ones.

The fourth hole was originally named "It Is" which was short for "It is unlucky if played carelessly." Perfectly named.

The 4th approach to the green

The green has big slopes in it and is well protected. The fourth hole is the #1 ranked handicap hole on the course, without question.

The fifth at Seaside, approach to the green

The fifth hole is the mirror opposite of the 4th. It is a 388 yard par four that is a sharp dog leg right over the marsh. It also requires you to hit back-to-back risk-reward shots with a high penalty for error. The fifth hole was originally named "Marsh" and again is both visually dramatic and requires precision. Those playing cautiously away from the marsh have to be careful not to hit too far through the fairway to the left.

The fifth green sited between the marsh and the tree

The creativity required to design two holes like this back-to-back is what makes Colt and Alison such brilliant golf course architects.

The sixth green shrouded in fog

The sixth hole is a short par three at 164 yards from the back tee. It is a nice respite following the harassing fourth and fifth holes. Such is the brilliance of the design at the Seaside course. The routing of the course through the marsh and dunes is brilliant.

The seventh green falls off at the rear

The seventh hole is a challenging 531 yard par five. The fairway zig zags with sand bordering the left side of the fairway and the marsh down the right side, while the green falls off at the back, penalizing shots hit long.

The shot of the 8th green from the fairway bunker

Eight is a short par four with a tee shot over marsh and a large bunker in play on the right side off the tee. This makes the effective landing area on the left side of the fairway very small. The hole finishes you off with a devilish, well-protected, harshly sloping green.

The 18th green

The ninth hole provides a strong finish to the front nine. The back nine feels like a different course, because it largely is, although the theme of alternating long and short holes, risk-reward shots and forced carries over marsh continues. There are some good holes and the routing is interesting and varied, as is the front, but it lacks the sizzle that the holes on the front nine have. When Bobby Jones played the course, the current front nine played as the back nine on a different composite course. Jones said, "Second nine is one of the very best I have ever seen." Who am I to disagree with Bobby?

The Seaside Course is a really unique place to play golf. We saw several bald eagles, which nest nearby, flying overhead while we played. The feel of the Seaside course is the lowcountry meets Merion; it is a throwback to an old-style design that requires the golfer to do more than just hit the ball long.

Sea Island Resort

The Sea Island resort has been owned and run by the Jones family (no relation to Rees or Bobby) for generations. The current generation, Bill Jones III, runs the business and resort.

No expense was spared when Sea Island was built, including at both the Cloisters hotel and the Lodge. Dark woods are prominently featured, but done tastefully. It is not as overbearing as the Breakers in Palm Beach or the Boca Raton Resort; it has more class. They do a lot of little things right at Sea Island, which adds up to a very nice experience. Bach's Brandenberg concerto was playing on the Bose CD player when I entered my room, for example. The employees all prononunced my simple name correctly, instead of making it two syllables instead of three, like many people do. There was stationery on the desk with my name engraved on it, underneath which "In Residence at the Lodge at Sea Island" was printed. I felt a bit like an English King or Howard Hughes. I imagine they used this type of thing occasionally, dashing off a letter from Balmoral or The Desert Inn, whilst in residence.

There are dozens of real wood-burning fireplaces throughout the resort. It has better service than a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, which is a high standard to surpass.

An interior view at The Cloisters

The resort has more five star ratings than The Pentagon has five star generals. At Sea Island, the Lodge, the Cloisters, the Spa and the Georgian Room all have received five stars from Mobil, which is a rare feat. It is also one of the few civilized places in the world where you can still smoke a cigar without persecution. You can smoke in the locker room at Ocean Forest, in the locker room at Sea Island and in the elegant cigar lounge at the Cloisters.

Sally Jenkins' Premature Prognostication

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me an article written by Sally Jenkins about Tiger Woods' post injury return to golf.

What shocked me most about this article was the writer's prematurely drawn conclusions about Tiger's golf game. Just read this passage:

But so far, Woods's comeback has been a relatively humdrum event...After an eight-month layoff to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Woods missed dozens of putts and seemed frustrated by the slow pace of the whole affair. All of which was a reminder that the injury is a clear demarcation in his competitive life: He's now 33 years old and in the last third of his career, and while he surely has a lot of greatness left, the game may no longer come so easily.

At the time that the article was published, Tiger had been out of competitive golf for almost 9 months and had logged fewer than 6 competitive rounds, 2 of which were match-play shortened and didn't require putting out. That's right, the writer believes that this sample size is sufficient to derive meaningful conclusions. Anyone who plays golf regularly at any level knows about the fickleness of golf and how maddeningly long it can take to recover one's form after a sustained layoff. Just because Tiger is a little rusty, it certainly doesn't mean that he's lost his game. To make that kind of jump is just regoddamndiculous!

Yet the writer has seen enough to proclaim, "For the first time in a decade, Woods will enter the Masters at Augusta National as something less than the clear-cut favorite." Oh brother!

But it doesn't stop there. The writer later suggests that Tiger may never recover his putting touch:

Oddly, the thing that seems most affected by the long layoff is not his swing...but his putting...But his trouble was perhaps a glimpse of what to expect when he gets older: Other greats who were nervy, aggressive putters, such as Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, saw their touch desert them in their mid-30s, and struggled to ever make short putts again.

All golfers know that putting is one of those things that is highly variable over the short term. The fact that Tiger's putting game was off for 6 rounds is hardly surprising. The writer seems to have forgotten that Mickelson's putting blew all year until he won at Riviera. Tiger is arguably the greatest clutch putter of all-time and I'm sure that he'll regain his putting sooner rather than later. Oh, and don't believe the writer. Tiger is the clear-cut favorite at Augusta.

Australian Golf

I completed playing Australia's top ranked courses in March 2010 and my course writeups will be posted between May and July. For those that can't wait for my impressions, a sneak preview below:

8. Royal Melbourne(Composite)- Australia's Pine Valley
21. Kingston Heath - One of the most bunkered courses in the world
43. New South Wales - A microcosm of the best of the world's golf holes
50. Royal Adelaide - A real sleeper and worthy to be among the world's best

Barnbougle Dunes - Really spectacular and one of the top three in the country

Lost Farms - Wow!

Henrik Stenson, Golf's First Male Underwear Model?

There were a couple of important things we learned from the 2009 CA Championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa:

1. Mickelson's game is in top form heading into the Masters
2. Tiger Woods' swing is the best it has looked since perhaps 2000
3. Henrik Stenson wears tighty whities

Most people don't know about #3 because it didn't make the television broadcast. But luckily for us, an alert shutterbug was able to capture the moment in pictures!


Apparently, Stenson stripped to his skivvies to avoid soiling his clothes from hitting out of the water hazard. But c'mon, doesn't he get those stylish threads for free anyway? Surely he could have borrowed Fanny's caddy bib. Maybe Stenson signed with a new underwear sponsor that demanded more exposure. On second thought, I think he was simply looking for a good excuse to show off that professional athlete bod of his. Golf is a sport, right?

Ocean Forest (Sea Island)

The Ocean Forest golf course (ranked #84 in the world) is located on St. Simons Island in the resort of Sea Island, Georgia. Although Sea Island is a resort, the Ocean Forest course is private and you must play with a member. The course was designed by the Harvard-Yale educated Rees Jones and opened in 1995. It hosted the Walker Cup matches in 2001, the youngest course to do so. Although Rees has modified or renovated many U.S. Open courses, Ocean Forest is his only course ranked among the world's top 100 courses.

Ocean Forest is a pretty private affair and most people are even unaware of its existence. To get into the Sea Island resort you have to go through a guard gate, which you can do if you are staying at the resort or playing one of the resort courses. Once inside the Sea Island enclave, to get into Ocean Forest you have to go through a second guard gate as well, after driving several miles down to the tip of the island. This is the only course I have played in all my travels with a double guard gate. The entrance only says 'Private' and there are no signs that say Ocean Forest.

The Golf Course Design

The course is located on the end of a barrier island where the Hampton River meets the Atlantic Ocean and the area is blessed with pine trees, sand dunes, oak trees, marshes, wetlands and a river estuary. The principles Jones used to design the course are:

1. Small greens. The average green size is 5,300 square feet. The notable exception is the par three 17th green, which has an 11,000 square foot green
2. Greens with low profiles, in order to maintain playability in high winds
3. Slopes around the greens which direct missed shots away from the hole

To quote Jones, "I learned from Brookline that you don't need extraordinary length if you have small greens. When the targets are smaller, the penalty for missing them is magnified because there is a greater likelihood that they will be missed."

The 12th green at Ocean Forest showing Jones' design philsophy around the greens

Jones' term for the green designs at Ocean Forest is 'straight back', which means that there are no greenside features to throw wayward shots back toward the hole or stop balls that have been played too long.

The greatest dangers at Ocean Forest are behind the greens. What makes the course unique is that it is essentially a links course, but without one of the central features of a links course, which is the ability to bump and run shots up to the green. The way Jones designed the greens, you have to pitch the ball onto them, which requires you to hit the ball high, as opposed to bumping it up. The approaches to most greens are narrow, with bunkers on both sides, making it a demanding course, particularly if the wind is blowing.

Ocean Forest from the air

The routing is good at Ocean Forest; Jones had a lot to work with and used it all: the marsh areas, the sand dunes and the areas along both the river and the ocean. The course starts in marsh and wetlands, then you get a brief glimpse of what is to come as the fifth hole backs up to the river with views of the ocean in the distance. While standing on the fifth green, the land you see across the river is all owned by the arrogant, disgraced, bumbling-idiot, Katrina-style bailout leader, ex-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who both owns the private island and had a personal vendetta against Lehman Brothers. Enjoy your ignominious retirement, Hank. You should hope they don't try to bring criminal charges against you for your incompetence. "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie!"

Sorry about the tirade, but it did make me feel better.

View from the par three 5th tee box

The Golf Course

Through the first five holes, the views of the water are fleeting; you see only enough to build your interest and curiosity because the course is routed inland again after this hole, playing back through the marsh and dunes. The same thing happens again when you get to the 12th and 13th holes; you think you will now play along the water from then on, but the course is again routed back inland before you re-emerge for the brilliant climax of the 17th and 18th holes along the ocean. Jones saved the best for last.

The opening hole on Ocean Forest follows the design philosophy of both Prestwick and the National Golf Links of America, which is of a short, relatively easy hole. Put a big asterisk next to that, however, since this is your first shot of the day and water is in play. At Prestwick, it's the slice over the stone wall and onto the railroad tracks that can ruin your start; at National, a shot into the high fescue; at Ocean Forest, the trouble manifests itself in the form of the 'Mullet Pond' that borders the left side of the fairway. I call it the 'Mullet Pond' because the pond is full of mullet, and they jump high out of the water with a frenetic frequency. When you hit your second shot on the first hole (and your tee shot off the 9th hole), you will absolutely be distracted by the jumping mullet.

The first green at Ocean Forest

The second hole plays along a stand of trees, the third plays by the dunes and the fourth plays by the wetlands.

The 4th hole seen from the tee

The ninth hole, a 151 yard par three has a Biarritz feature in the front, the jumping mullet, and an occasional crocodile sitting nearby the pond. It's a nice short par three that requires a precise tee shot over water and offers no bailout option.

The 10th hole at Ocean Forest

The 10th hole was my favorite on the course. Jones calls ten "the most thought provoking, risk-laden hole." The tee shot on this 545 yard par five demands a shot hit to a fairway which is set at an angle, over marsh grasses. It is a classic risk-reward shot. The further to the right you can successfully hit, the closer to the green you are. A shot hit short of the fairway is gone. There is a beautiful marsh along the entire right side of the hole. The green is treacherous, well protected by bunkers and has a lateral hazard on the right and to the rear.

The 10th green

The 13th, a 381 yard par four, plays along the Hampton River and has a stream running through the fairway, which means most players have to club down off the tee in order to avoid hitting into the hazard.

13th fairway bordering the Hampton River

Fifteen is a short par three at 165 yards. My advice is take one more club on your tee shot. It plays longer, even though it is set on level ground; you have to hit it the entire way there over marsh grasses with a cross-wind blowing across the green.

The par three 15th

The nice par four 16th

The 16th hole is quite good. It plays 425 yards from the back tees and is a dog-leg left where you have to hit through a chute of trees. The hole requires you to shape your shot off the tee and land on the left side of the fairway. The book The World's 500 Greatest Golf Holes ranks this hole as one of the hardest in the world to get on in regulation. Part of their logic is that there is usually a fresh breeze blowing across the marsh near the green, and the green repels balls. Behind the green, there is no margin for error because there is a shaved area that trickles down into a lateral hazard. I'm a hack and got there in two, so I'm not sure about their assessment.

The par three 17th

The first time the course has a hole bordering the Atlantic Ocean is on the long 217 yard par three seventeenth. The seventeenth green backs up to the ocean and is wind-swept, with winds blowing across the marsh nearby.

The 17th green

Believe it or not, there are only a handful of holes on courses ranked in the top 100 in the United States that play along the Atlantic Ocean. Seminole sorta-kinda has a couple of holes. Maidstone has two or three, The Ocean Course at Kiawah has several and these final two at Ocean Forest. The eighteenth hole is 480 yards, plays along the Atlantic from tee to green, and is a tough finishing hole with a small green that slopes back to front and is well bunkered.

Approach to the 18th green

Ocean Forest

The locker room at Ocean Forest is among the best I have seen. It is on a par with Seminole, San Francisco and Mayacama. The locker room has its own library; a nook with a giant fireplace and card table; a cozy seating among the lockers, and the top of the room is adorned with animal heads.





Ocean Forest reminded me of another exclusive southern club, The Honors Course. Both encourage walking, have great caddy programs, have a great respect for the traditions of the game, particularly amateur golf, and both exhibit true Southern hospitality.

Walter Hagen once said he didn't want to be a millionaire, he just wanted to live like one. Staying at Sea Island will allow you to fulfull Walter's fantasy. It's expensive, but it is a true five star resort and worth it.

The Seaside course, also located at Sea Island, a few miles from Ocean Forest is not ranked in the top 100 courses in the world, but does rank as one of the top public courses in the country. Personally, I think it is a better course than Ocean Forest and I will do a detailed write-up of the Seaside course next. It is also the easiest way for most people to see the design work of the genius architects H.S. Colt and C.H. Alison, and in particular their unparalleled ability to route a course. Those that followed my travels to Japan know how highly regarded Charles Alison's design skills are. His partner, H.S. Colt, was involved in Royal Portrush and Pine Valley. Playing the Seaside course is a good chance to see how great this pair were without traveling half-way around the world or without gaining access to a private club.

Why is Ocean Forest ranked so high in the world? A little inside-baseball might provide some insight. Gary Galyean, who wrote the club history after the Walker Cup matches in 2001, also serves as chairman of Golf Magazine's top 100 courses jury. Rees Jones also rates courses for the magazine as does the owner of Sea Island, Bill Jones III. It can't hurt to have three people associated with the course on the rating panel. As we say in Brooklyn, "You know what I mean?"

Ultimately, Ocean Forest is like local boy Davis Love III. All the essential elements of greatness are there, but there is just something I can't put my finger on that keeps me from becoming a big fan.


Post Script

There are four courses ranked on the world top 100 in the state of Georgia. I have now finished playing three: East Lake, Peachtree and Ocean Forest. You all know which one I still need.

Driftwood immediately behind the 17th green