For those who love the game of golf, few places anywhere can quicken the pulse quite like Brunswick & The Golden Isles of Georgia. From the mainland to the Islands, along river, marsh and sea, lie some of Georgia’s and the nation’s most spectacular and widely acclaimed courses. You can stay for days and never play on the same course twice. Or, find your favorite course and challenge it again and again. In Brunswick & The Golden Isles, you’re rarely more than 30 minutes from any course, so you can spend more time on the green, and less time in your car.

Golden Isles golf is a tradition that began more than 100 years ago when the millionaire members of the Jekyll Island Club built their first course. The area’s prominence as a golf destination grew in the 1920s with the opening of the Sea Island Golf Course. These courses established a legacy of great golf courses designed by many of the world’s greatest course designers. Walter Travis. Colt and Alison. Dick Wilson. Joe Lee. Rees Jones. Davis Love III. Tom Fazio. Mark Bennett. Clyde Johnston. All have left their mark with challenging layouts from the mainland to the barrier islands.

Mainland Brunswick offers 54 holes of golf on three courses. Brunswick Country Club, with 18 outstanding holes overlooking the famed Marshes of Glynn, is a private club offering reciprocal playing privileges to USGA members. Brunswick’s newest course, Coastal Pines Golf Club, offers 18 holes in a beautifully wooded setting, and was rated one of Golf Digest Magazine’s “Best New Bargains.” Oak Grove Island Golf Club, located on Oak Grove Island, is a challenging Mike Young layout with two signature holes along the banks of the Turtle River.

St. Simons Island offers 45 holes of golf on two courses. The Hampton Club, designed by Joe Lee, was named by Golf Magazine as one of the nation’s top ten resort courses. It features four holes located on small islands amid the surrounding marsh. Newly renovated and in championship condition, Sea Palms Golf and Tennis Resort offers 27 holes and has been the site of numerous prestigious state and regional golf tournaments for over 30 years.

The Sea Island Golf Club, on the southern tip of St. Simons Island, is located on what was once a vast plantation. Three recently renovated18-hole courses – Seaside, Plantation, and Retreat – are available to guests of The Cloister and The Lodge at Sea Island, and Sea Island Club members. Sea Island has been host to many well-known state, national and international tournaments, among them the U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, The Walker Cup and UBS Cup to name a few. Among notable players who have challenged these venerable courses are Louise Suggs and Bobby Jones, whose course record (67 set in 1930) stood for 28 years until bested by Sam Snead, who shot a 63.

The Jekyll Island Golf Club, with 63 holes of championship golf, is the largest public golf resort in Georgia. 18-hole layouts include Oleander, Indian Mound and Pine Lakes, a classic Dick Wilson/Joe Lee design with a brand new interpretation by Clyde Johnston. The historic Great Dunes 9-hole course was originally laid out by Donald J. Ross for the wealthy families that once owned Jekyll Island as a private winter retreat.

Off the course you’ll find accommodations of every type, from convenient Interstate hotels on the mainland to full-service resorts, national chains and small bed-and-breakfast inns on the islands and rental cottages–even a private island retreat. Many offer year-round stay-and-play golf packages, so you can focus on your game rather than your wallet. There’s a great selection of restaurants, too, in settings that range from grab-and-go fast food outlets to outdoor casual to fine dining.

Whether you drive or fly, getting to Brunswick & The Golden Isles of Georgia is easy. We’re on the Georgia coast, just minutes from I-95 at Exits 42, 38, 36 and 29. Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport offers four daily roundtrip regional jet flights to Atlanta, aboard ASA/Delta Connection. If you’re fortunate enough to fly yourself (or can join a friend who has a plane), you can land at Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport on the mainland, McKinnon Airport on St. Simons Island, or Jekyll Island Airport.

Start your own golf tradition on the Georgia coast. Call today for a free Visitors Guide. Or, visit our official website, BGICVB.COM. While you’re there, be sure to check out the online, printable Visitors Guide and the “Special Offers” section, which contains information about special hotel packages and other discounts.

Come Coast Awhile!