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Lion's Paw at Ocean Ridge Plantation
Rating Snapshot
About
Lion's Paw Golf Links is an open, hilly course that treats the golfer to spectacular views of a beautiful creek valley and its adjoining wetlands. A wild and untamed layout, Lion's Paw features deep sugar white sand bunkers and MiniVerde greens.
A stunning 23,000 square foot clubhouse serves both Lion's Paw and Panther's Run golf courses and offers residents and visitors the perfect place to ready themselves for the upcoming challenge on the links. Designed with a safari theme, the clubhouse includes a full-service pro shop, a snack bar and Tamers Restaurant and Lounge, an elegant dining room serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Lion's Paw has been described as Willard Byrd's finest work. Part wild, part rustic and quiet, this magnificent course presents a lion's share of adventure and breathtaking scenery.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 72 | 7003 yards | 74.0 | 132 |
| White | 72 | 6457 yards | 71.3 | 128 |
| Gold | 72 | 5872 yards | 67.5 | 118 |
| Gold (W) | 72 | 5872 yards | 71.0 | 126 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 5363 yards | 69.0 | 121 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 73.5/137 | 417 | 517 | 204 | 428 | 415 | 228 | 402 | 520 | 386 | 3517 | 400 | 202 | 383 | 527 | 418 | 445 | 384 | 185 | 542 | 3486 | 7003 |
| White M: 71.0/131 | 387 | 477 | 178 | 385 | 399 | 175 | 364 | 495 | 352 | 3212 | 375 | 188 | 372 | 493 | 396 | 408 | 353 | 154 | 506 | 3245 | 6457 |
| White/Gold M: 69.2/126 | 351 | 477 | 128 | 385 | 366 | 136 | 364 | 495 | 352 | 3054 | 375 | 172 | 322 | 493 | 393 | 382 | 353 | 131 | 506 | 3127 | 6181 |
| Gold M: 67.3/115 W: 72.7/133 | 351 | 433 | 128 | 361 | 366 | 136 | 332 | 478 | 336 | 2921 | 349 | 172 | 322 | 431 | 393 | 382 | 319 | 131 | 457 | 2956 | 5877 |
| Red M: 64.2/108 W: 68.8/124 | 335 | 416 | 108 | 326 | 353 | 125 | 303 | 455 | 305 | 2726 | 307 | 110 | 300 | 413 | 321 | 366 | 286 | 121 | 406 | 2630 | 5356 |
| Handicap | 1 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 18 | 12 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 1 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 14 |
Hot Deals at Lions Paw
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Course Details
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Bar, Grill, RestaurantAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top 25 Most Improved U.S. Golf Courses (2021 #16)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Put MONEY into the course
These courses have so much potential but the course conditions are so sub-par that it’s not worth the money. Greens were very bumpy, lumps of grass, some greens had little grass, just sprayed with the green stuff. Tight lies were everywhere even in the middle of the fairways. Staff is extremely friendly and courteous which was a plus. Knowing it’s Resort Golf I still wish a Marshall would “speed slow players “ along
Poor Poor Greens
The whole course needs some TLC, all of the greens are worst that I have played on in 20 years. Staff were very friendly.. Would not recommend this course.
We deeply apologize for the unsatisfactory conditions you described. Lion's Paw was hit by a breakout of Poa Annua this spring, similar to many other bermuda greens courses in our area, and we very aggressively treated this issue with every available viable product. After a couple of weeks, the conditions began to improve considerably, as the Poa began to dissipate. The weak areas left behind on a few of the greens have also bee addressed and the course should be back to 100% in the coming days. We have formulated a plan of action, using some newly available products, to assure we do not experience a similar issues in the future. Hopefully you made your concerns known to the staff on duty, as they are empowered to do whatever necessary to make sure each guest has an ultimately satisfactory experience. If this is not the case, please let me know and we will work with you to rectify this issue. Email me directly at blong@oceanridge.com and we will come up with solution. Thank you and we appreciate your understanding of this unfortunate, but temporary situation.
Beautiful Course
Friendly staff. Good condition.. I would highly recommend.
Thank you for the very nice Five Star revieiw of Lion's Paw! We truly appreciate your patronage and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Great course
Great course, great staff. Greens had a little bit of a problem with some poama(so?) grass on some. Otherwise beautiful, lush fairways and the cart paths are very smooth. Course is beautiful. Will play again!
Thank you for the very nice review of Lion's Paw! The Poa you mentioned has been aggressively treated and is fading fast and the greens are looking very good for the rest of the spring and beyond. We hope you will visit us again soon.
Early season conditions
Some greens were bumpy. Fairways so so - grass is dormant in some spots still. No yardage markers- not even a stake. Had to pass a threesome for slow play.
On a positive note- easy to navigate- just follow cart paths to each hole. Also $43 on Golf Now is a good price compared to other courses in my area. I’d imagine that in a few months course would be visually appealing.
Bag dropoff area is run well
Thank you for the awesome Five Star review of Lion's Paw! We truly appreciate your feedback and hope to see you again soon.
First big cat
Great course, greens being switched but made do and they gave us a discount because of it, staff was great.
Thank you for the nice review of Lion's Paw. The greens will be getting even better now that the weather is warming up nicely. We hope to see you again soon!
Scenic challenging track
Overall a good value course offering good distances from the whites with most part threes around 180 yards. About 6 of the greens were in rough condition but may just be coming into season. Very pretty natural features and challenging approaches with deep traps. I didn't have a range finder today but would be nice to have more natural distance markers. Thanks to Joe at the bag drop for good advice and friendly cheer to start the round.
Thank you so much for your nice review of Lion's Paw. We really appreciate that and you're correct, the greens are getting even better daily, now that the weather is warming up nicely. We hope you will come visit us again soon!
Coming back
Very nice course, greens were in transition but playable, staff was great and friendly. Very nice clubhouse and pro shop. Looking forward to playing the other big cat courses.
Thank you for the very nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your feedback and we hope to see you out chasing birdies with the Big Cats again soon!
Greens need help
I understand from discussion with staff that the the infestation of Poa Ana grass on the greens is an issue however there were other areas which needed help. Sand was inconsistent from some bunkers (compacted) to others were there was white fluffy sand.
I must admit the layout of courses in this area is appreciated. It pays to think regarding shot placement which is the way it should be set up.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We are in the process of a major bunker restoration project that will see any problem bunkers refurbished and improved as we move through the remainder of 2023 and beyond. We hope you will visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Solid!
Overall! Great course for the money. Course was in great shape! Minus bumpy greens.. not unplayable but not ideal either if you’re used to playing on true putting greens.
Thank you for the very nice four star review of Lion's Paw. The greens will be getting better daily as we have taken a very aggressive approach to finish off any lingering invasive grasses in them and they should be putting more smoothly each day as we move along. Thanks again.
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We hope you will visit the other three Big Cats courses as well.
Greens full of weeds and spray painted green
Very poor greens and had 6 groups on hole 13. Many better options than here unfortunately.
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw! We really appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
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Thank you for taking the time to review your round at Lion's Paw. We apologize we were not at our best during your visit. We have been aggressively treating the issues you described and there has been significant improvement since you played. We expect the conditions to continue to improve rapidly now and for all of the bermuda greens to be in great shape for the summer. We also have a plan in place to use some newly available products to proactively treat these issues and make sure we do not experience a similar situation in the future. We hope you will visit us again and see our continued progress.