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Byrd at Sea Trail Golf Resort and Convention Center
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About
The Willard Byrd course at Sea Trail Plantation is one of three courses on the property, which covers 2,000 acres of creeks and wooded lots. It's in Sunset Beach, N.C., once named the top coastal destination in the U.S. by Money magazine, and in 2003, Golf Week named Sea Trail in America's best residential courses of distinction.
All three courses, by Dan Maples, Rees Jones and Willard Byrd got 4-star ratings from Golf Digest. The Byrd course is built around several, man-made lakes, from 14-20 acres and features nicely undulating greens and Byrd's trademark decorative sand and waste bunkers, constrictive treelines and greenside bunkers.
The Byrd course opened in the fall of 1990 to good reviews. No. 18 finishes between two ponds at the clubhouse. The course covers 6,750 from the blue tees with a slope rating of 128 slope. Watch for No. 2, a 174-yard par-3 over water, and No. 3, a long par-5, a dogleg right with water on the left.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 72 | 6658 yards | 72.6 | 129 |
| White | 72 | 6143 yards | 70.8 | 125 |
| Gold | 72 | 5452 yards | 67.6 | 117 |
| Gold (W) | 72 | 5452 yards | 73.5 | 133 |
| Red | 72 | 4520 yards | 63.0 | 106 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 4520 yards | 67.5 | 114 |
| Teal (W) | 72 | 3553 yards | 61.7 | 101 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 72.5/134 | 389 | 172 | 482 | 412 | 412 | 394 | 165 | 394 | 531 | 3351 | 398 | 369 | 188 | 525 | 393 | 382 | 203 | 383 | 462 | 3303 | 6654 |
| White M: 70.4/129 | 348 | 162 | 453 | 384 | 399 | 359 | 136 | 366 | 490 | 3097 | 383 | 343 | 154 | 494 | 356 | 363 | 162 | 359 | 422 | 3036 | 6133 |
| Gold M: 67.5/116 W: 72.8/132 | 310 | 137 | 427 | 323 | 373 | 320 | 119 | 330 | 457 | 2796 | 359 | 273 | 116 | 456 | 343 | 333 | 128 | 309 | 405 | 2722 | 5518 |
| Red M: 63.0/107 W: 67.4/112 | 248 | 112 | 312 | 299 | 324 | 217 | 105 | 289 | 373 | 2279 | 310 | 218 | 100 | 383 | 248 | 269 | 112 | 261 | 343 | 2244 | 4523 |
| Teal M: 59.9/100 W: 62.0/99 | 211 | 107 | 262 | 223 | 228 | 177 | 100 | 232 | 267 | 1807 | 231 | 202 | 92 | 271 | 203 | 244 | 105 | 204 | 236 | 1788 | 3595 |
| Handicap | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 16 | |||
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 6 |
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Course Details
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by bnellis on 04/05/2026
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Photo submitted by CoachGrayski on 12/28/2025
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Photo submitted by CoachGrayski on 12/28/2025
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Maples greens several like this Photo submitted by KennyRuggs on 11/16/2024
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Par 3 #12 Photo submitted by u314160791017 on 08/13/2023
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Photo submitted by u314164034732 on 05/30/2023
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Photo submitted by u314163966299 on 05/18/2023
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Photo submitted by u314163966299 on 05/18/2023
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Photo submitted by u252826083 on 08/13/2022
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Photo submitted by dave00001 on 06/07/2022
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Photo submitted by DrBurb on 04/13/2021
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Photo submitted by sixeagles on 03/12/2019
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Photo submitted by sixeagles on 03/12/2019
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Photo submitted by sixeagles on 03/12/2019
Lots of Room for Improvement
I will try to keep this short and start with the best things. I played the Byrd course which had apparently had the greens redone, and the green were really nice...but that was the best part of the course. The fairways were cut almost too short and were scalped in several place. It wasn't a lunch fairway at all.
My BIGGEST problem with the course is that I was playing in the summer and there was NO hydration! They had one drink cart running around BOTH of their open courses, so you were lucky to see the drink cart which we finally saw on hole 17. But the bigger problem is that they didn't have any water stations around. Most courses don't allow for coolers, but you better pack one when you come here. So far, this is my least favorite course in the area.
Greens hard as concrete.
Ball won’t stop on greens that are hard as concrete. Grass sparse in fairways and tees. No driving range or putting or chipping green.
Nice course
Nice course, very friendly from the front tees. Stayed for a bite on the patio and the food was good and the staff was friendly.
Nice course
Conditions were pretty good. Greens were in good shape and ran true to their rating of 10.9. Staff members were very nice. Stayed for a bite on the outdoor patio. Food was good. Nice facilities.
Pace was ungodly slow
Title says it all. The pace was almost unmanageable - 5:30 hours. Greens are like putting on cement at times but some of them were normal paced - so inconsistent would be the word I’d use to describe them. The scenery was very nice with a lot of wildlife - many different birds, black squirrels, gators and turtles. I think if the pace of play was better it’d be worth playing again, but I’d never pay full price at the pace
Nice course
Course is very nice. Would recommend for your next golf trip.
Slow pace
All was good except the pace. Took around 5 hours to finish. No marshall came around to try to speed up slow players.
Lots of kinks to work out
Unfriendly staff, super fast greens, poor draining fairways. Would not play here again.
Byrd current condition 12/15/2024
The Bryd course is underwater from the sprinkler system. I played the front 9 holes and quit. Staff allowed us to play the front 9 holes of the Jones course to complete our 18 holes. The Jones course was in great condition.
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