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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: 73.6/136 | 415 | 510 | 202 | 420 | 409 | 225 | 393 | 511 | 381 | 3466 | 395 | 196 | 380 | 517 | 410 | 441 | 374 | 188 | 534 | 3435 | 6901 |
| White M: 71.0/129 | 391 | 476 | 176 | 364 | 394 | 189 | 355 | 490 | 340 | 3175 | 371 | 186 | 366 | 483 | 390 | 419 | 349 | 159 | 501 | 3224 | 6399 |
| White/Gold M: 69.4/125 | 352 | 476 | 115 | 364 | 361 | 131 | 355 | 490 | 340 | 2984 | 371 | 172 | 321 | 483 | 332 | 390 | 349 | 133 | 501 | 3052 | 6036 |
| Gold M: 68.0/119 W: 72.8/132 | 352 | 427 | 115 | 317 | 361 | 131 | 325 | 466 | 302 | 2796 | 338 | 172 | 321 | 427 | 332 | 390 | 313 | 133 | 452 | 2878 | 5674 |
| Red M: 65.7/112 W: 70.6/125 | 337 | 411 | 105 | 290 | 349 | 126 | 293 | 451 | 266 | 2628 | 302 | 106 | 288 | 410 | 324 | 367 | 283 | 128 | 404 | 2612 | 5240 |
| 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
1-4
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 u835220769 on 07/17/2026
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Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
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Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
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Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
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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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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 is a Pro Level Course
Upon entering, the staff was friendly and helpful., Excellent layout but could use more watering. Greens were quite fast but true.. Every hole very challenging.
Course has lost it's lustre, sadly.
Greens were full of growing weed tufts. Some of the fairways were dried up & patchy, and lacked consistency.
Sand traps were short of rakes.
Cart paths were very rough in many spots.
Only play this golf course at a steep discount.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We apologize we were not able to meet your expectations on this visit. The cool weather poa annua has been treated and is dying out quickly now. It will be completely gone soon. We actually just put out a significant number of new rakes, so that issue has been addressed as well. Finally, we are in the process of an extensive cart path repair program for Lion's Paw and Panther's Run that will make a significant difference in the overall experience of playing these two courses. We hope you will visit us again and see our continued progress.
Fun time at Lion's Paw
First I have to thank the guys in the clubhouse who got me out early so I could play ahead of two large groups since I was playing as a solo. The cart attendant was also extremely helpful. I have always had a great experience with all of the staff at the Big Cats courses and believe that goes a long way to making it a great day. Doesn't cost anything to be nice and these guys were all super friendly.
The course itself was in very good shape overall. There is still some winter weeds on the greens, but that did not detract from a great day. Very fun course and challenging layout. Will definitely come back!
Thank you very much for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We agree, this original Big Cat is in very good condition and getting even better daily now that the weather has warned up. Any lingering winter weeds have been treated aggressively and will be completely gone very soon. We hope you will come visit us again soon and see our continued progress.
Great course
The staff was very accommodating, first time playing Lion's Paw., gave helpful tips. I will definietely play this course again. Given a few more weeks and the course shou.d be in great shape. Just enough of a challenge. But not so difficult that you get frustrated. Enjoyed
my round,
Thank you for the nice Four Star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and your feedback. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well! Thanks again.
Fair value
We enjoyed the course. Pace and conditions were good.
Thank you…
Thank you for the nice four star review of Lion's Paw. We are so glad you enjoyed your recent visit. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well. Thanks again.
Lion's Paw golf
Interesting layout with challenges. Course well maintained and generally in good shape. Greens are quick and subtle.
Definitely a course to play.
Thank you for the nice Four star review. We agree, Lion's Paw is a unique and fun layout and we are working hard every day to provide nice playing conditions for all our guests. We hope you will come visit us again soon!
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 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.
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.
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Thank you for taking the time to review your recent round on Lion's Paw. We agree, it is an excellent layout. You are also correct in that we could use some more rain! In addition, this is the transition time between winter rye and warm weather bermuda grass n the fairways, tees, etc and we have sprayed out the rye grass to help speed this transition along. Therefore the courses will be a little more off color for a few days and then begin the rapid green-up for the rest of the year, until winter dormancy comes again. WE hope you will come visit us again soon and see our continued progress.