After Kiawah, I spent several days at Seabrook Island, a mere 10 minutes drive from Kiawah. In important respects, Seabrook Island mirrors Kiawah. It is a gated resort and residential community. The roads and trails are clean and well-maintained. The small barrier island is rich in natural elements of thick forest, lagoons and marshes copiously populated with wading birds and other wildlife. And, the island has all the amenities of a first-class resort destination.
Seabrook, however, is entirely private. Use of the amenities, including the golf courses, is restricted to private club members or resort guests. Because of this, perhaps, I had a sense of community here that I don't usually experience at resorts and I was struck by the friendliness of the staff, from managers down to the attendants.
The resort has everything a fine beachfront resort would have including camps and clubs for kids and conference and equestrian centers. Also, with four-bedroom villas just off the beach and adjacent to the golf clubhouse, the resort is nicely set up for golf outings.
Two adjacent golf courses are very scenic with both woodland and links features. The easier of the two is
Ocean Winds,
a 6,761-yard par 72 William Byrd design. It features generous fairways and relatively flat, moderately bunkered greens. While the front nine works it sway around a woodland environment, the fine back side wanders out toward the ocean and features some excellent holes around lagoons and marshes. While fairly tame in calm weather, this course can be difficult when the frequent winds kick up.
Crooked Oaks
is a 6,750-yard par 72 woodland layout. It was one of Robert Trent Jones earliest creations and
though it is quite narrow, it doesn't have the deep, greenside bunkers or the roller coaster greens
that were later to become his trademarks. Still, Crooked Oaks is a real tester. Several major amateur
events have been held here and the winners have struggled
to break even. 
