100 Retreat Avenue, St. Simons Island; 912-638-5118; www.seaisland.com
STAFF: Eric Schneider is the PGA VP of Golf; Brannen Veal is the PGA Director of Golf
PAR/YARDAGE: The Seaside Course plays to a par 70 with five sets of tees: Championship (7,055 yards); Back (6,657); Middle (6,323); Member (5,880) and Forward (4,978).
COURSE RATING/SLOPE: 73.8/141 (Championship); 72.3/137 (Back); 70.9/133 (Middle); 69.2/129 (Member); 68.8/120 (Forward).
ABOUT THE COURSE: Seaside, one of three exceptional courses of the Sea Island Golf Club, will host the PGA Tour McGladrey Classic for the second time this month, and was extremely well received by the tour pros who competed in the event last year. By tour standards, Seaside is not especially long, adding 50 yards since last year’s tournament to play 7,055 yards. Only a handful of the par 4s require the tour players to hit more than a short iron approach, and as a result, scores were on the low side even though the course has only two par 5s. More than half the holes played under par for the tournament, with the average score a shade over 69.3. With mostly generous fairways, superb course conditions and smooth Bermuda putting surfaces, Seaside is a comfortable course for the tour players, but is considerably more of a challenge for the club’s members and resort guests. The only concern for the tour players is the wind coming in off the ocean, which borders part of the course. Last year’s conditions were quite calm, which also was a factor in the low scoring. The ocean marshes, which are present on a majority of holes, and ever-present sand dunes give Seaside a wonderful
natural feel, but are mostly out of play for the tour pros, who are more concerned with the deep green-side bunkers, as well as Tom Fazio’s typically strategic fairway bunkering. Fazio extensively renovated Seaside a little over a decade ago, combining one of the original Colt & Allison nines from the late 1920s with Joe Lee’s Marshside nine from the early 1970s. The two mesh together beautifully, offering some scoring opportunities on the latter holes on the front side, with much of Seaside’s challenge found on the incoming nine, including three of the toughest par 4s among the last five holes, along with the more vulnerable of the two par 5s for a little breather. A visually spectacular course that is a treasure to play for those of modest ability, and a pleasure to walk for tournament spectators thanks to its compact, level nature.