Play all three courses, but try to play them in this order: Plantation, Retreat (both $230 peak, $200 off-peak) and Seaside ($325 peak, $250 off-peak). Plantation is a good warm-up for the other two. Redesigned by Rees Jones in 1998, its back nine is better than the front. I especially liked 10 and 18, which are near the porch of the Lodge and have views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Map By Jason Lee
The Retreat is a few minutes down the road from the Lodge and was redesigned by Davis Love III and his brother, Mark, in 2001. It's inland and set among trees and houses, but hole by hole it's a better course than Plantation.
The reason you should play Seaside last is that it's by far the best. The minute you finish playing Seaside, redesigned by Tom Fazio in 1999, you want to play it again, and you might not especially care about the other two anymore. That's not a knock on Plantation or Retreat but more a compliment to Seaside. They're all good walking courses, and I recommend taking a caddie. The stories they tell about the history of the property make it a better experience.
After a lesson with Todd Anderson, a conversation with "Dr. Mo," several buckets of balls, three rounds of golf, a trip to the shooting school, a steak dinner at Colt & Alison, a burger in the men's locker room, a hot-stone massage, an undisclosed number of martinis and glasses of wine at the Oak Room bar at the Lodge, that butler-run bath was looking and sounding more like chocolate-chocolate cake. Maybe next time, Ron.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
SHELL GAME
The shooting school is a great place to release golf frustration. There's a five-stand sporting-clay field, two skeet ranges and a trap field. Private or group lessons are available for beginners and novices ($100 an hour per person; shells are $39 per box). Ask instructor Jimmy Duncan to show you his shooting skills. Poor "birds" don't stand a chance.
THE DOCTORS ARE IN
The golf learning center offers three-day improvement schools ($3,300 not including lodging). Spend time with each member of the dream team on and off the course. Upcoming dates: April 23-25 and May 21-23. Phone 912-638-5119 for more information.
ROCK SOLID
I tried the 100-minute stone massage at the Lodge spa. For some reason I enjoyed hard, hot things stuck between my toes. It was the $280 bill that hurt.
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