Welcoming guests is what Sea Island (GA) is all about. I left Greenville at around 5:30a for the four-and-a-half-hour drive down to Hilton Head. When I arrived, I played 27 holes at Hilton Head Country Club as a ClubCorp member, but while the South Carolina Lowcountry weather in late October was almost perfect, I was ready for something more.
I noticed a lack of streetlights as I pulled into The Inn at Sea Island about an hour after sundown. It’s a unique, Spanish-style hotel that primarily accommodates guests who are in town to play one of three courses. There are few streetlights by design. The old-world charm of the island coupled with the state of the art Sea Island Golf Performance Center make for a special experience.
I was scheduled to be on the practice tee for my fitting at 9:00a, but my wake-up call came at six, three hours before my session. While the brain makes up 1/50 of our body mass, it consumes a staggering 1/5 of the calories we burn for energy. To do our best, we literally have to feed our minds! I learned that from The One Thing by Gary Keller.
The Sea Island Golf Club at The Lodge includes three championship golf courses: Plantation, Retreat, and the historic Seaside Course. The Plantation and Seaside courses currently play host to the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic, and the Golf Performance Center is home to an award-winning staff that regularly coaches and trains some of today’s best professional golfers.
Sea Island is also home to two of America’s Top 10 resorts: The Lodge and The Cloister. They’re great, but they’re not cheap. I would guess they run $500-600 a night. Personally, I recommend the Inn at Sea Island. A casa there will cost you $200, but you’ll also get a $50-75 discount on your club fitting.
My adrenaline kicked-in while I was warming-up with my wedges and short irons. Around nine o’clock, Performance Center Manager Craig Allan approached me, shook my hand, and took the golf bag I was carrying off my shoulder in one smooth, single motion. This was not a man who lacked experience. It was not his first rodeo so-to-speak. Craig works with several of the PGA Tour players who live at Sea Island: Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, and Jonathan Byrd just to name a few.
As I followed him to the fitting area, Craig asked me what my goal was. I didn’t hesitate. I told him, “I’m a low handicap wanting to be the best I can be. I want to get the most out of my game.” Craig said, “We’ll make that happen.”
Jack Nicklaus called the energy it takes to play well his “juice.” Said Nicklaus, “You try to save what you’ve got so you can use it when it means the most.” I think if you practice and play a lot, you have an inner sense of how to allocate your energy in practice sessions, or in this case, a club fitting.
The Sea Island Performance Center’s philosophy is that no two golfers are alike. The staff there uses TrackMan, in conjunction with the club fitter’s expertise, to get a player the best possible fit. TrackMan has become a staple for Tour players striving for perfection. In a recent Golf Digest article Geoff Shackelford wrote, “Known as a ball-flight analyzer for revolutionizing club fitting, TrackMan has become a vital tool in the teaching arsenal of a growing number of instructors thanks to its portability, the constant refining of its software parameters, and a better understanding of what to do with the information provided.”
I was confident that Craig was looking for the best fit for me. He wasn’t manufacturer-biased, and although he has an apparel and club sponsorship, I didn’t end up with either brand because they weren’t the right fit.
After hitting six or seven different manufacturers and getting the irons dialed-in just right, we moved on to wedges and finally, driver and 3-wood. Wedges are a separate fitting because they encompass several different shots: chips, pitches, and full swings into square-framed nets 30 yards out and longer.
While we continued to utilize the TrackMan data, I could tell Craig knew what he was looking for. There’s no substitute for the experienced eye. Not only was I pleased with the feel and performance of the clubs I ended up purchasing, I would highly suggest a fitting to anyone who wants to play their best. It’s a great experience!
About the Special Guest Commentator
Britt Brandt (top) fell in love with golf while growing up in Greenville, South Carolina when the mullet hairstyle was still an acceptable fashion statement. He’s a low, single-digit handicap who, in addition to winning several local amateur golf tournaments, has qualified for and played in ten South Carolina Mid-Ams. Britt and Dan met on the golf course in the summer of 2005, and the two have been inseparable golf buddies ever since. When he’s not out on the course, Britt can be found working alongside his mother, brother, and stepfather at Keller Williams Realty. As a team, they have been multi-million-dollar producers for the last 24 years.