by J. Eric Eckard

Although George Washington never slept here, he traveled the road between Wilmington and Georgetown, S.C. that bears the name of an all-inclusive golf resort on North Carolina’s southern coastline.

Sea Trail Golf Resort & Convention Center sits just a bike ride away from one of the most beautiful beaches in North Carolina, which can only be reached by a one-lane, wooden deck pontoon bridge—the last of its kind on the East Coast.
Situated halfway between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, S.C., the 2,000-acre

Sea Trail resort features 54 holes of golf designed by three well-known golf course architects in the country—Rees Jones, Dan Maples and Willard Byrd.
Built in 1985, the Maples course was Sea Trail’s first, featuring 10 water holes and massive bunkers, including one that extends tee box to green on No. 15. With tighter fairways, tee shots must be taken with care.

Five of Maples’ holes border Calabash Creek, and golfers might find themselves face to face with osprey, cranes, gators or squirrels. Signs along the courses warn visitors not to feed the alligators.

The Jones course opened in 1990 and was redesigned in 1999. In 2006, it hosted a U.S. Open qualifier.

The course is perfect for the resort golfer who likes open fairways, shelved greens and rolling mounds. The par-3 No. 17 boasts plenty of undulating rises as you approach a two-tiered green.

A year after the Jones course opened, Sea Trail unveiled its Byrd layout. Lakes and ponds dot the course, and the closing par-4 hole meanders by two ponds.
Sea Trail has two clubhouses, one shared by the Jones/Byrd courses, that overlooks both courses’ closing holes, and another at the Maples course.