Tag Archives: Golf Vacation

Sea Island Golf Resort – My Birthday Week

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This post is purely for me to document a lovely golf vacation! If you click on the photos it will open each photo gallery and you will see captions.

This year my golf travel bestie, Donna, was kind enough to come down south to golf and celebrate another milestone birthday. It was unseasonably hot the first few days of her visit but she was a trooper. While in Greenville we did a bit of sightseeing. Below are photos of The Historic Poinsett Stone Bridge and Campbell’s Covered Bridge.

We then drove down to St. Simons Island, Georgia to the Sea Island Resort. We stayed at the Inn at Sea Island. Of the three resort options, it was the most reasonable in price and still convenient to everything (and had a free breakfast). It was very comfortable and I don’t feel like we “missed out” by not staying at the Cloister or Lodge.

The most expensive accommodation is The Cloister which has a spa, room butlers, and promotes the fact you can have warm cookies brought to your room at night. We had access to everything at The Cloister and saw no reason to pay double for a room just to get warm cookies. We did go and have a drink in the Oak Room. And we did play a match on the 18-hole putting green; I can’t resist sharing that I won.

The other accommodation, The Lodge, was very nice. The cottages (which sleep 6 to 10) at the Lodge looked like a great option if you had a larger group. Anyway, we spent time at the Lodge after our round of golf at The Plantation Course. We had lunch and then checked-out the ladies locker room, and of course the pro shop. I thought I would just get a small token of our trip (non of the hats inspired me) so I got a small ball marker; no prices on the display so I was shocked when I found out the price it was $12 or over $13 with tax. You gotta love resort pricing.

Side Bar: While eating lunch I kept seeing women driving by in golf carts and I wondered if they had a league. So at the Plantation Pro Shop I asked if they had ladies leagues and the woman that runs the leagues just happened to be behind the counter. She informed us the 9-hole league has 200 members and the 18-hole league has 125 members. I wondered if the resort (with the three courses) was the only option for ladies on the island; but there are a total of seven golf courses on St. Simons. Also, Jekyll Island has four courses and Brunswick (next to St. Simons) has two courses. Still, I could not believe the number of ladies in the Sea Island leagues! We also saw the ladies locker room and it was quite swanky!! Nice to see a course catering to women golfers.

Retreat Golf Course

Our first day of golf we played the Retreat Golf Course. It was a very nice course. The rating and slope from the Gold Tees 69.0/117 so not a difficult course. There was a very nice range, chipping and putting area. I also like the fact that all these courses have starters so you can ask a few questions about the course.

Donna did not like the fact it starts with a par 5 (water on the right, and bunkers front right and left). We were told the signature hole was hole six. Hole 6 was beautiful and visually intimidating with the water. I was very thrilled to par the signature hole! I debated laying up but told myself “don’t be a chicken, you have this distance to carry the edge of the water.” And I hit my 2nd shot to within 8 feet of the hole. I was so excited. Got to the green and saw I had a downhill putt which I gave too much respect and left about 2 inches short. However, I’ll take a tap-in for a par every time!!

Unfortunately, we faced the typical afternoon southern popup storm and had torrential rain for hole 17 and 18; but the rest of the round was great. Below are images of the Signature Hole. Last photo is a bit blurry but that was my ball from my 2nd shot on to the green.

Plantation Course – at The Lodge at Sea Island Resort

The last day of golf we played the Plantation Course. The weather had changed completely with clouds, wind and it was quite cool. I was hoping for warmer temps but Donna was very happy. The practice area with the range, chipping area and putting area were very nice.

We started on the 10th hole and it was very, very windy. I found the wind challenging because I have a higher ball flight and felt I was not getting my normal distance on my drives. I should have tried teeing it lower but of course didn’t think of that until the round was almost over. Anyway, it was still a fun day. The course is very wide open so I can’t imagine not being able to find your ball (unless you hit it in the water).

Compared to the Retreat Course, the Plantation Course has the same course rating and slope 69.1/117 but the greens on Plantation were much more undulating which we felt made the Plantation course more challenging than the Retreat Course. Plus the wind and the fact the Plantation Course has more water made it seem much harder than a 117 slope.

One crazy (memorable) shot on the plantation course was hole #2 (middle image below with bunker). We had just discussed that the front bunker was so deep with the wood slats. A guy in the group in front of us had been in the bunker and it was above his head. Anyway, my approach shot hit something and bounced straight up and really high in air and landed on the green. Not sure if it hit the wood planks at the face of the bunker or the drain at the front of the green but whatever it hit, I was happy with the crazy bounce! And I parred the hole!!

A few views from the Pool/Halfway House. We enjoyed lunch and a great view. A few lovely butterflies were on the flowers by our table.

The courses were nice but we both felt the course fees were a bit over priced; and not courses we have any desire to come and play again (versus a course like Tobacco Road which I would definitely play again). Of the two courses, if I lived at St Simons, I would enjoy playing the Retreat course as a home course.

Sightseeing – a break from golf

We were supposed to play the Dunes Course on Jekyll Island but the forecast was not great so we decided to pass since we had not paid for that green fee (it was not part of the golf package) so we did some sightseeing instead. We did go to Jekyll Island and the rain did not impact us but it was very windy. We went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center where they rehab sea turtles and other animals. Driftwood beach on Jekyll Island was very cool with driftwood of full size trees!

We went to the St Simons Lighthouse but we did not go up the 129 steps to the top. The boardwalk by the lighthouse was very pretty. And I loved the moss hanging on so many of the trees on St Simons Island and Jekyll Island.

Two videos below…

It was just a few days but it was a great way to celebrate my birthday!

Carmel Valley Ranch Golf Course

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During a recent bucket list trip to play Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, we wanted to play a few other local courses. The caddie at Spyglass recommended Carmel Valley Ranch. It’s located in a resort community and is a beautiful and challenging course.

When you arrive at the gate the guard tells you to follow the road to the pyramid club house. It is a beautiful clubhouse and clearly an upscale resort. The carts have water and towels for your use and golf balls are provided on the driving range conveniently located by the club house.

We played from the Lavender tees (5230 yards) to challenge ourselves but the forward tees are 4433 and would be challenging and fun too! It’s interesting that the forward tees are white (not red), I think this is a very clever move on the part of the golf course. Red tees have such a “stigma” as “ladies tees.” We played with an older gentlemen who played from the white tees and had no issue with the tees being forward.

The photo slideshow below displays the view from the first tee, the cute “tree with swing” logo of the club, the 13th hole (downhill par 3), Vineyard views, deer watching us hit our drivers, wild turkeys ignoring us, and a view of the beautiful pyramid club house from the 18th tee box.

The golf rates on the website are high $210 for “outside guests” but go to GolfNow for a great deal. We booked with GolfNow for $98.00 (included cart, etc.). So if plan a trip to play golf in the Carmel area, look for the deals and play Carmel Valley Ranch.

Pebble Beach Lives Up to the Hype

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My friend and I were both having a “milestone” birthday in 2021 so we decided a little over a year ago to plan a bucket list trip to Pebble Beach Golf Resorts. Lucky for us that we did early planning and were not impacted by the pandemic.

Spending a large sum of money on a bucket list trip brings on the feeling of “boy, I hope it is worth it.” I really wasn’t sure what to expect but it was an amazing trip. You must stay at the resort to play the courses but it is so much part of the experience that at the end of the trip you don’t mind. We played Pebble Beach, Spyglass and The Hay. We also played a few local courses, Pacific Grove, DeLaveaga Golf Course, and Carmel Valley Ranch. I will write seperate blog posts on the non-Pebble Beach courses.

We also took time to enjoy the surrounding area including Carmel-By-The-Sea, Pacific Grove, Monterey, and Big Sur. Our first day we arrived and traveled the 17 mile drive. So beautiful and lots of photo ops. The funny thing is we traveled the 17 mile drive many times during our stay at the resort going between The Inn at Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach Resort.

My first photo of the trip – 17 Mile Drive – Lone Cyprus Tree

So that is the only photo of me I will bore my readers with in this blog post. As I said it is a “milestone birthday” – O.K., I’ll share, I turned 60 the day this photo was taken of me. Now for the main event – our experience with the courses at Pebble Beach Resorts.

Pebble Beach

The iconic 7th Hole at Pebble Beach

The views are stunning and there are some hard holes (especially if the wind is up). I’m like everyone that visits and loved the 7th hole. Now mentally, for me, I found the most intimidating hole to be #6 because it is a crazy uphill hole. Here is the description – “The second shot of this iconic par five climbs nearly four stories to an elevated green.” I was thrilled to par the sixth hole.

The other hole that was a challenge because of the carry on the second shot was Hole 8, Par 4, 349 yards from the forward tees. It is the #2 handicap hole for women. The drive is easy with a big fairway, but you must be on the left side because the second shot is all carry and if you are on the right side of the fairway the carry is over the ocean. Even on the left side you have a lot of carry (over the hazard of rocks and bushes on the side of the cliff) but a better chance at hitting the fairway; and I’m happy to say I did hit the fairway!

So The holes that I felt were the most challenging were 6, (because of the uphill challenge), 7 (just because it’s in your head that you want a good score on the iconic hole), 8 (because of the forced carry, and 18 (because it seemed very long in the wind). I will say we were lucky with good weather, I can’t imagine how much harder it would be if the wind was really up or you had to play in dense fog.

We played the course the Tuesday after the PGA Champions Tour “Pure Insurance Championship” so the rough was really hard. I quickly learned that I had to really tighten my grip and use all the strength I had to advance the ball. Other than that and some wind on the back nine, we had amazing weather – sunny and in the 60s when we started and low 70s when we finished. Our round was a little over five hours. The caddies said it was a bit slower than normal but we were a foursome that got put in the middle of a “company outing.” My guess, we booked a year in advance and they had to fit the “outing” in around tee times; but we didn’t care because we really don’t want the round to end.

I would recommend a caddie for your first time at Pebble. They really can help with targets off the tees and placement of second shots on the par five holes to give you good approach shots. I also think some caddies are good at reading greens. I felt our caddie was a bit off on his reads (this is a reasonable comments after having a caddie at Spyglass that was awesome at green reading). And the greens were super fast!!

Later in the week, my golf buddy and I discussed the fact that we wished we had booked two rounds at Pebble Beach because after getting some course knowledge you really want to play again to see if you can better your first score. And because the views are amazing and it’s a beautiful walk. We actually did check to see if we could get another round but the only tee time was 2:40 p.m. and that meant we might not finish the round due to darkness.

I will share that while we were eating dinner at Stillwater (which overlooks the 18th green) you could see golfers finishing in the dark and a single light from a tree lit the green.

!8th Hole at Night – 7:15 pm final group of golfers finishing. We were enjoying dinner at Stillwater.

Spyglass Hill

Spyglass Hill, Hole 12, Par 3

Everyone I spoke with before my trip said Spyglass was the harder course but their favorite course. Now, I loved Pebble for the uniqueness of the ocean views and I found Spyglass easier than Pebble Beach. I did notice that Pebble’s slope rating was a bit higher than Spyglass from the forward tees. I also wonder the men that said it was harder would all be hitting from the back tees so they would have a different experience with the course. Or it could be because, normally, I am a fairly straight hitter so I was in the fairway a large percent of the time at Spyglass (vs the day before at Pebble). Or I was just playing well that day. I’m not saying Spyglass is easy but for me it felt familiar (more like the courses I play back home — see Hole 12 in the photo, a par 3 with water on the side of the green — my golf eye was used to this type of hole) so I was relaxed and played well. Between the two courses, Spyglass was great but I would say Pebble is the course I want to play again because of it’s ocean views.

I will note that the men in our foursome at Spyglass, were really struggling with the tree lined part of the course (Holes 7 – 18).

How Did I play at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill? First let me share my handicap which is 18.5 right now. Course Handicap Calculator gave me “21” for both courses. So, Pebble Beach (71.7/132): Shot a 107. Spyglass Hill (72.6/130): Shot a 95. My GHIN Differential for Pebble was 30.3 and for Spyglass 19.5 which basically means I played Pebble Beach like a golfer with a 30 handicap and Spyglass like a golfer with a 19 handicap so you get the gist with a course handicap of 21 as the comparison. Bottom line, I was really happy with my Spyglass round.

The Hay (Tiger Woods Short Course)

The Hay Short Course, Hole 2 – the most scenic and interesting hole on The Hay

The Hay is located at the Pebble Beach Practice and Learning Center. The resort guests have free use of the practice center (expect for The Hay, you must pay to play). The Hay was a disappointment for both me and my golf buddy . The Hay was the only course that did not live up to the hype. It is a fine short course but it is not any nicer than the short practice courses at home. The two interesting holes were #2 which is “described” as a “replica” of the 7th at Pebble. And I thought the 4th was interesting because it was an uphill blind tee shot to the green.

Bottom line, it’s not worth paying $65 to play. And a tip, don’t play on Monday – they make you hit off a mat because they are trying to save the tee boxes from those golfers (not me) that take big divots. We paid $65 to play off mats, really? It really was the only disappointing part of the Pebble Beach Resort experience. The one thing I loved was the cute logo of The Hay which is the sea lion Cynthia. So of course I did buy a golf cap.

Caps of All the Courses Played at Pebble Beach Resort

I could write pages about Pebble Beach but it would never give you the true feeling of experiencing it yourself. So if you have not gone to Pebble Beach Golf Resorts, save your money and go!