luxury, we know, comes at a price, yet the finest such experiences render material considerations moot. Yes, the golf on offer must reside somewhere on the continuum from top-shelf to memory-searing. But the resort’s other corner-stones — service, cuisine, aesthetics, off-course experiences — can be no less exemplary. The elegance and sophistication of these five-star stays don’t just impress guests, they enrich them, too.
Without further ado, here are GOLF’s 25 best resorts for Luxury. (For our ranking methodology, scroll to the bottom of this article.)
3. Sea Island Resort, Sea Island, Ga
400 total rooms at the Cloister and the uber-intimate Lodge / three golf courses / Golf Performance Center / spa / seven pools / tennis / beach
Best time to go: Fall or spring, with highs in the 70s and low 80s.
Daily stay-and-plays start at: $800.
Golf experience: Seaside Course (Colt and Alison, Tom Fazio), Plantation Course (Walter Travis, Rees Jones, Love Golf Design) and Retreat Course (Joe Lee, Love Golf Design).
Best non-golf amenity: Seven miles of private beach.
While you’re there: Fine-tune your game at the all-new, 17,000-square-foot Golf Performance Center.
Insider tip: It’s the only resort in the world to receive four Forbes Five-Star awards for 11 consecutive years. Soak up the experience.
Travelogue: Davis Love III grew up on Sea Island, one of coastal Georgia’s golf-rich Golden Isles. He and brother Mark, of Love Golf Design, recently completed an 18-hole putting course here, and successfully pitched ownership on a full reno of the 1998 Rees Jones redesign of Plantation. It opens this fall, prior to cohosting the RSM Classic. If golf were a stock, Sea Island would be buying. The Lodge recently wrapped a $30 million upgrade, and the new Golf Performance Center is peerlessly high-tech. Instruction has always been a major focus at Sea Island Resort. Little wonder, with resident Tour players including Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Harris English, Brian Harman and recent winners Keith Mitchell and J.T. Poston.
Montage Palmetto Bluff / May River GC, Bluffton, S.C.
Best time to go: Spring and fall are the prime golf seasons. Daily stay-and-plays start at: $350. Golf experience: May River, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design. Best non-golf amenity: The actual May River, which is a dream for standup paddleboarders and kayakers. While you’re there: Seek out the oysters, which are in season October and November. Insider tip: The May River course is private, with access for resort guests only. Also good for: General Excellence. Read more here.
How we ranked them
In one of the biggest editorial projects GOLF has ever attempted, we culled the names of 243 rank-worthy resorts spread across North America. Under the expert guidance of resort industry veterans and our stable of well-heeled travel writers, we placed each resort into at least one of four experience categories: Luxury, Buddies, General Excellence and Families. Then, with the help of 3,700-plus golfers just like you, we conducted an online poll, asking GOLF.com readers to rate each resort based on five key variables: golf experience, accommodations, service, food and ambience. The results of this poll were then weighed against the opinions of a select group of GOLF’s Top 100 Courses panelists and those of internal travel and editorial teams to list destinations in each category (Nos. 1–5, then alphabetically), generating GOLF’s first-ever ranking of the Top 100 Resorts. Yep — we’re in need of a vacation, too.
Read the full article at Golf.