Special Places - Sea Island

After the heady excitement of the severely weather-hit Ryder Cup and Jim Furyk walking off with the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship, the bread and butter fare of the struggle for survival at the highest level of world golf takes centre stage. With no big tournaments remaining on the PGA Tour in 2010, many of the top players begin to throttle back their commitments while the battle rages on for others to retain playing privileges for next year. So, even though there may only be a sprinkling of the game’s stars on view, the “Fall Series” final events of the season will be compelling to watch.

This week sees a new addition to the Tour schedule with the inaugural McGladrey Classic taking place at Sea Island, Georgia. This affluent location is home to top golfers like tournament host Davis Love III, Zach Johnson and Jonathan Byrd. Also the Sea Island Golf Learning Centre, which boasts four of the Top 50 US golf instructors, is the regular training venue for a dozen PGA tour veterans including Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover and Boo Weekley.

This five star resort that was the site of the 2004 G8 summit has two courses, the Seaside which will host the event and the Plantation. The Seaside Course was originally designed in 1929 by famed golf architects Harry S Colt and Charles Alison as a nine hole layout. In 1973 the Marshside Nine was added by designer Joe Lee. The Seaside Course as we know it today was created in 1999 when modern icon Tom Fazio transformed the two distinct nines into a Top 100 design. The demanding layout is an oceanside links style course that places a premium on shot selection, recovery ability and putting. Par is 70 for this 6500 metre course that boasts superb Bermudagrass greens.

Stunning vistas with water in play on most of the holes and the ever-present wind – from a gentle breeze to a howling gale – combine to produce a memorable golfing experience. Also, with Davis Love as host, this low season event is sure to attract more than its fair share of golfing luminaries. Ben Curtis, David Duval, Justin Leonard and Trevor Immelman are among the major winners due to tee it up.