Seabrook Island Club

 

As everyone knows, Kiawah Island is one of my favorite spots to play golf but right around the corner from Kiawah is another fabulous spot. this one, to not only GOLF but to RIDE, too! It is called Seabrook Island. I had an opportunity recently to play a Carolina Golf Association 4 Ball tournament there and was lucky enough to experience this wonderful island. A perfect place to vacation or live!

 

 

Unlike Kiawah, The Seabrook Island Club has its OWN equestrian center. I enjoyed watching quite a few riders taking lessons and working their horses. Their full-service Equestrian Center features one of the few beach rides on the East Coast. It subsequently caters to riders of all skill levels with guided trail rides, pony rides, and riding lessons.

 

They even have beach rides for Advanced Riders which is really unique! The club’s Equestrian Center at Seabrook Island helps define the unique lifestyle enjoyed by island residents. The center features spacious pastures, three miles of trails, and modern facilities that include 42 stalls – perfect for long-term monthly boarding – for both residents as well as non-residents. The center was very well maintained and the horses all looked happy and healthy! This would be a perfect scenario for wanting to live at the beach but have your horses close by. Plenty of EXTRA time to golf!

 

 

 

There are two courses at The Seabrook Island Club one is called Crooked Oaks which is a Rees Jones redo and the other is called Ocean Winds. The leter is a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course. BOTH were challenging!

 

Crooked Oaks

 

The Crooked Oaks course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., is a 6,780-yard, par 72 course. It winds through marsh, maritime forests and moss-hung, century-old live oaks.

 

He’s been called the “father of modern golf course architecture.” His designs are in play in at least 43 of the 50 states, as well as 35 foreign countries. In all, his name is on roughly 500 courses throughout the game of golf. Thus, leading many to joke that “the sun never sets” on his courses.

 

Yet despite his prolific talent, not to mention his longevity – his career spanned more than 70 years. The late Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed just four courses in South Carolina and only one in the Charleston area. That means that any golfer wanting to experience Jones’ masterful handiwork in this area simply has to play the Crooked Oaks course at Seabrook Island.

 

 

Crooked Oaks is a blend of strategy and artistry, sculpted, as the name implies, from a forest of ancient and twisted live oaks. I LOVED the look and feel of the course and the strategy involved in playing it! And though Jones was often characterized as a dictatorial designer, especially when it came to his work at numerous major championship venues. His course at Seabrook Island can be a rewarding experience for less-than-heroic golfers. Though it appears on a couple of others, water comes into play on just six holes – a pittance, indeed, when you’re talking about coastal golf. And only twice – at the par-4 10th, where a lake guards the approach, and 18th, where the tee shot must carry a narrow lagoon – does the course fail to provide an alternative land route.

 

A particularly memorable hole is the par-4 fourth. It doglegs left around several old, twisted live oaks that impose on the landing area. A well-placed drive leaves a short-iron approach over a finger of marsh jutting in from the right, fronting the green. The specimen trees are far from the only “crooked oaks” on the course. Luckily they seem to be the most noticeable. You won’t forget this hole and you won’t forget this course! Of course, after we had to hit the restaurant at the amazing Seabrook Island Clubhouse check it out

 

 

 

The Ocean Winds course, designed by Willard Byrd, is a 6,802-yard, par 72 course that takes you to the Atlantic Ocean where swirling breezes provide a challenging test of ability. A recent renovation by Rees Jones, Inc. now makes this course even more incredible. While you don’t actually get to SEE the Ocean you certainly do feel the ocean winds and breezes! ACCURACY is a must on this course when we played the tournament our approach shots had to be on the money! Here is a great video all about the renovation

 

 

So if you are looking for ANOTHER great spot to vacation or even move too that offers great GOLF and great RIDING think about Seabrook Island. I had a chance to meet some wonderful REALTORS when I was there so let me know if you need someone to show you around the island! It truly is a wonderful place to visit or stay for quite a long time! Enjoy Seabrook Island!