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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
Great Course layout
Was a single with only one group of Members in front of me. Caught them on the 3rd hole. No one in front of them and they were all over the place. Finished 9 behind them. Went to 10th hole they still wouldn't let me through. I turned around packed my clubs in the car and left. ATTENTION MEMBERS. There's a reason it's open to the public. AFTER YOU PAY YOUR MEMBERSHIP IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO RUN THE PLACE. That's why it's open to the public. Is a nice course but I don't like playing behind people with no golf etiquette.
Just a terrible course overall.
Since we got a decent deal on GolfNow, we decided to play Lion's Pawn Monday April 4th. What a bad decision it was. The greens are a mess and the tee box are also in a bad shape for most of them. Just go play somewhere else, it's not worth it until they really fix that course.
Thank you fro taking the time to review your recent visit to Lion's Paw. We appreciate the very nice four star review. We hope you will visit us again soon and be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well.
We were put on Panthers run due to a tourney on lions paw. It was great. Course was in good condition for this time of year. Definitely recommend.
Thank you for choosing The Big Cats courses of Ocean Ridge and we truly appreciate the great four star review as well. We hope you will come visit us again soon!
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We agree, it is a great layout and we are working hard every day to make sure the course is in good condition for all our guests. We hope you will come visit us again soon!
Not recommended
No grass on several spots on fairways, greens are not nice.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw . We apologize we fell short of your expectations on this visit, but we are working hard daily to make all four Big Cats courses among the best on the Grand Strand. The bermuda grass is just breaking dormancy for the spring and everything is greening up quickly. We hope you will visit us again soon to see our continued progress.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We are working hard daily to offer our guests a wonderful and enjoyable golf experience. We hope you will visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Thank you for visiting Lion's Paw Golf Links. We are working hard daily to make sure we offer our guests a fun and memorable round of golf. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well!
Thank you very much for the awesome Five Star review of Lion's Paw. We agree, this original Big Cats course is truly a pleasure to play and makes for a great day of golf. We hope you will visit us again soon and be sure to check out the other three Big Cats as well.
Could be better
This course used to be really nice. The staff was great but the course conditions were lacking. The greens had a bunch of goose grass and poyania. The layout was challenging. Our tee time was last minute so we still appreciated the ProShop getting us on.
Thank you for choosing Lion's Paw for your recent round. We truly appreciate it! We just wanted you to know we are working diligently to completely eradicate the recent Poa invasion and we can already see significant improvement in this area. We expect this problem to be completely resolved very soon. We hope you will come visit us again and see our continued improvement.
Thank you for your recent visit to Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and we are working diligently to offer all our guests an enjoyable and memorable golfing experience. We hop you will visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Good course that needs a little TLC.
The course needs a little TLC. Greens had lots of poa ana pods sticking up making them bumpy. The traps were hard as rock and need to be shoveled/raked. Some of the fairway bunkers were walked in with footprints left behind and not raked (sometimes due to a missing rake). I realize COVID made us all panicked and shut in, probably dropping business and funding for golf courses, but its time to make some small fixes to the courses and they'll be better for it. Lion's Paw was in need of these simple fixes and if done will make it a really nice course.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw Golf Links. We apologize you didn't catch us at our very best due to the poa annua outbreak. Fortunately this has been aggressively treated and will improve quickly. Due to Covid concerns, like many other courses, we removed the rakes from our bunkers and have just recently begun re-implementing them. We have an order in right now for more rakes and that will help dramatically with any bunker issues. We hope you will visit us a again and see our continued improvement.
Thank you for the nice four star review of Lion's Paw. We are very excited about the future of this original Big Cats course, as we have bunker restoration and cart path renovations planned for 2022 and many other upgrades coming soon. We hope you will come visit us again and see our continued progress.
Nice course
I enjoyed my round at Lions Paw. Overall the course was in good shape for early March but there were some weeds coming up on the greens that made putting a challenge. Not an overly difficult course but a few holes required proper course management for success.
Needs work
Looked forward to playing this course but we were disappointed. The greens were infested with long sprouts of Poa that made it almost unplayable. Fairways were thin with lots of dry areas just off. Cart paths were atrocious.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We just wanted to let you know the issues you mentioned are all being addressed at this time, including extensive work on the cart paths that should be completed in the coming weeks. From tee boxes to greens, the original Big Cat course is much improved over the past year and we expect that trend to continue as we move through 2022 and beyond. We hope you will come visit us again and see our continued progress.
Greens need treated
Overall a pleasant golfing experience. The greens have weeds coming in which prevents a smooth putting experience.
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We really appreciate it. The greens are being treated heavily to control any invasive grasses such as the Poa Annua you mentioned on some of the greens. This condition is improving daily and will be completely eradicated very soon. We hope you will visit us again and see our continued improvement and progress.
Course condition
From the last time we played the course, they did a great job on there bunkers, but the greens were a bit worse. Two of the greens were so bumpy you couldn’t putt them.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We agree, the course is much improved, including the bunkers, with the exception of the current Poa Annua that is starting to come through in the afternoons on some of the greens. We are treated this issue very aggressively and it will be completely eradicated very soon. We hope you will come visit us again and see our continued progress.
Thank you very much for the awesome Five Star review of Lion's Paw! We truly appreciate it and we hope you will come visit us again soon. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well. Thanks again!
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Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We are very sorry we were not able to meet your expectations on this visit. I will check with our maintenance staff to see if there was some particular issue on the day you played, as reviews of our course conditions have been generally quite positive during the same time period your round was played. Again, we apologize and we will do everything we can to address your concerns. We hope you will visit us again and see our progress.