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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
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top 25 Most Improved U.S. Golf Courses (2021 #16)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
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Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
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Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
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72 year-old with good swing form! Photo submitted by PKStamm2418 on 01/18/2026
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Carlos was a great welcoming committee Photo submitted by james9852821 on 10/14/2025
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Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
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Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
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Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
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Photo submitted by Richard1399167 on 05/16/2021
Lions Paw
Course was the longest of the big cats. Greens were also the smallest.
Layout was not quit as creative as the others but we enjoyed the course and will be playing it again. Conditions were good and well maintained.
Staff was friendly and helpful.
Thank you for the excellent Five Star review of Lion's Paw. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well. Thanks again.
Lions Paw experience
When we arrived we were met by friendly staff at the bag drop. Check in was a quick and easy. The gentleman at the bag drop gave us a quick o/v of the course and we were off. The course was in great shape and the greens ran true. I will be back to Ocean Ridge to test the other courses.
Thank you for the awesome Five Star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and feedback and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw Golf Links. I see that most of your ratings for the course were good or average. Could you give us any further details as to your decision to rate the overall experience at Two Stars? We would like to use this feedback to help improve our guests' experience in the future. You can send the information directly to me at blong@oceanridge.com. Thanks again.
Beautiful Course
Loved the layout. Greens were sparse and putts bounced offline. If greens were truer, I would have rated the course as excellent. Hot Deal through Golf Now made it a good value.
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We have been doing some significant work on the greens and they have improved considerably, even in the past cou0ple of weeks. We hope you will visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Horrible course
We were suppose yo play Lions Paw. When we got there we were asked to play Panther Run. We agreed. Well panthers run is absolutely horrible condition. Crab grass for tee boxes and also kn thr fairway. The greens were horrible also. No good roll. Patches if grass were missing from the greens. We never play any of the 3 courses in Ocean ridge again
Great layout
Fun course to play, nice layout, challenging, good condition and pace off play was very good.
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We agree, it is a fun and enjoyable layout and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Greens are rolling nice
Course is tight with trees, so bring some balls. Whites play a bit long. Greens are rolling nice. Sandtraps were hard with mud, not well kept so try to avoid. Overall, fun round.
Needs a ton of work.
Greens were ok but the rest of course was in rough shape. Rough hadn’t been cut in weeks and the bunkers were not great. Weeds all throughout the fairway and had workers weed eating in fairway while we were trying to tee off. Also had a ranger tell us we can’t drive our cart to range because people get lost and don’t know where to go. Makes zero sense when I can see it from clubhouse and there are spots to park your cart at range. Only good thing was pace of play because no one was on course but makes sense now because of course conditions. Def won’t be back unless they make some major improvements.
Thank you fro the very nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate it and we hope you will visit us again soon.
Dissapointment
Coming from Ohio i was told to play the cat courses. We tried Lion's Paw and to be fair it has been raining alot. Crabgrass everywhere, greens in rough shape and grass needs mowed. Looks like a great course at one time......just not right now.7
We sincerely apologize we fell short of your expectation on your most recent visit. Heavy rain and intense heat in the weeks prior to our visit certainly contributed greatly to the issues you described. Fortunately these conditions are very much temporary and are now improving daily. We are looking forward to a great remainder of 2023 and beyond.
Thank you for the positive review of your visit to Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and look forward to seeing you again in the future.
Thank you so much for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. The greens have healed up nicely and getting even better daily. We are looking forward to a great remainder of 2023 and beyond! We hope you will visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Lost Greens
Pulling up to the putting green, I saw I may be in for a rough day on the greens. We had to do 2 putt max, as there wasn't a single green that was 100% playable with a smooth roll. We (2some) were off first, and played in under 3 hours. 1 hole the sprinklers were on while we attempted to putt. Another hole, the flag wasn't put back into the cup. I mentioned these things, and the greens and the guy working said it was the weathers fault. I live 2 hours from here, and my club has almost perfect greens. So it's not the weather. 10 years ago, this course was terrific but I guess funding has decreased. Panther's Run looked the same.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw Golf Links. We apologize we fell short of your expectations on this visit. The weather certainly did throw us some curve balls this spring. Though Raleigh is only 3.5 hours away, in this region, even a few miles can make a big difference in the weather conditions you receive. Regardless, we apologize we were not in our best condition on this visit. We are currently doing an extensive renovation on these greens and they will once again be in excellent playing condition for our guests for the remainder of 2033 and beyond.
Greens were pathetic; but we warned, although not sufficiently. General lack of maintenance, but for $45, you can't expect a lot more in the heat of July.
Thank you for reviewing your visit to Lion's Paw. We appreciate your patronage and your feedback. We deeply apologize we fell short of your expectations on this visit. We are currently undergoing extensive greens renovations to ensure Lion's Paw is in great condition for the remainder of 2023 and beyond. We hope you will visit us again and see our progress and growth.
Poor Shape
Starting on the first hole, you notice that the greens are in poor shape along with overgrown rough and overgrown brush around every hole. The layout was fine. The staff were great but the course conditions were awful.
Greens in terrible shape
Did not find out until we arrived that greens were “aerated “. Greens with multiple dead spots, areas of irregular sod, massively inconsistent from hole to hole. Layout is great , management needs to invest in playable greens.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw Golf Links. We apologize you happened to play at a time we were doing some required maintenance to our greens. We did offer our guests a discounted rate for this period and gave them the option to play one of our other courses, if preferred. These conditions are very much temporary and the course will be in very good condition once again in the coming days. We hope you will visit us again and see our continued improvement and progress.
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Thank you for the very nice four star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and feedback and we look forward to seeing you again soon.