Back
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
1-4
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAccolades
-
Golf Advisor: Top 25 Most Improved U.S. Golf Courses (2021 #16)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
-
Photo submitted by u835220769 on 07/17/2026
-
Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
-
Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
-
Photo submitted by u950416169 on 05/16/2026
-
Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
-
Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
-
Photo submitted by logancriss on 04/13/2026
-
72 year-old with good swing form! Photo submitted by PKStamm2418 on 01/18/2026
-
Carlos was a great welcoming committee Photo submitted by james9852821 on 10/14/2025
-
Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
-
Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
-
Photo submitted by u000007843074 on 06/13/2025
-
Photo submitted by Richard1399167 on 05/16/2021
Lions Paw has seen better days
Greens were in horrible shape. Seems like they are not reinvesting in this big cat course.
Greens in bad shape
The greens had bumps and dead spots and were not cut close. It was a 2-putt at worst rule all day since nearly every putt rolled off-line. The fairways were firm and there were plenty of hard pan areas. Not expected for such a nice facility as Ocean Ridge.
Weather causing burnt grass and back 9 damaged greens
It’s a nice layout but pretty dry hard fairways from no rain and no watering. Greens on Back nine diseased and damaged by hydronic oil. I just woul recommend playing at this time.
Thank you for taking the time to review Lion's Paw, We appreciate your patronage and feedback. The current drought is certainly affecting this Big Cat Courses. We are hoping for a good rain, which should come this week, to improve conditions dramatically. Thanks again!
The greens were horrible
Course is very nice but the greens weren’t in good condition
Thank you for taking the time to review Lion's Paw, We appreciate your patronage and feedback. The current drought is certainly affecting all the Big Cat Courses. We are hoping for a good rain, which should come this week, to improve conditions dramatically. Thanks again!
Gone downhill
Played this course back in the 90’s and it was a jewel. What a disappointment yesterday was. Although the staff were all great someone needs to be fired to let this course sink to the condition it has come to. Greens look like the mower was leaking hydraulic fluid and left 6” wide dead strips circling around all of them which left behind black mold. A couple of them looked like they had sprayed them with green dye. The greens really need to be aerated as they were hard at a rock.
Needless to say I won’t be coming back here.
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and your feedback. We apologize for the temporary drought related conditions you experienced on this visit. Our area is currently under an extreme drought advisory and, as we have very limited access to water on this property, we have to mange our water supply carefully. We have had only two brief showers (A total of less than 2/10ths of an inch of precipitation) in the past two months. Fortunately it looks like there is a chance for some significant rainfall this weekend and that will quickly jumpstart the rejuvenation process on the hearty Bermuda grass. We actually have aerified the greens several times this spring, using Viper Tines, but with no rainfall to help soften things up or to fill our struggling ponds, the greens have remained very firm. An unfortunate maintenance error also led to some issues in certain spots that we will require good growing conditions to overcome. We apologize again that you did not catch us at our best, but we are definitely working hard daily to try to offer our guests the best possible golfing experience under the conditions and we are looking forward to moving past this temporary situation and returning to more normal irrigation practices and much greener grass! We hope you will visit us again and see our continued progress. Thanks again.
Thank you for the nice Four Star of your visit to Lion's Paw, a Big Cat course. We appreciate your patronage and feedback. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cat courses as well.
Nice layout not the greatest shape
Nice layout not the greatest shape, staff was awesome pace of play was great
Thank you so much for the Four star review of Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and feedback. We agree we have an awesome staff. They work vey hard to provide our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cat courses. Thanks again!
Drought conditions
Good course but very dry due to draught conditions. Recommend waiting until area gets some rainfall.
Thank you for taking the time to review Lion's Paw. We appreciate your patronage and feedback. We are working hard daily to provide our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience.
Be sure to check out the other three Big Cats courses as well.
Pretty Day, Greens in Rough Shape
Was a great weather day, and the layout was fun. Fairways and tee boxes were nice. Rough Greens, black/brown areas on most greens. Nice folks though, and cheaper than most courses in the area in April of 2026.
Thank you for taking the time to review Lion's Paw. We do appreciate your patronage and feedback. We are working hard daily to provide our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience. The current drought is taking a toll on all our courses and we are patiently waiting for rain. We do hope you visit again soon. Thanks again!
Good course
Pace of play wasn’t too bad we were a twosome so expected to wait a little, about 4 1/2 hours, some of the greens looked like they had a bit of fungus on them but rolled ok, rest of the course was good.
Thank you for the Four Star review. We appreciate your patronage and feedback. We hope you visit again soon. Be sure to check out the other three Big Cat Courses. Thanks again!
A little frustrating
I booked a tee time through GolfNow, and when I arrived at the facility, someone else had jumped into my spot that I had already paid for. Not sure how that happens. Anyway, I had to wait for about an hour for them to put me with another group. During that time, I decided to get a breakfast sandwich in the grill. I just wanted something simple, bacon and egg. It came out bacon, egg, and cheese. 🙄 I reluctantly ate it anyway. Regarding the course: beautiful shape & great layout. Unfortunately, it took five hours to play the round.
Thank you so much for the 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
Greens
Greens looked to have been the victims of a hydraulics problem. Large burnt swirls on quite a few of the greens.
Layout was nice.
Thank you so much for the 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
Thank you so much for the 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
Worst greens in the Myrtle Beach Area
Cost was the same as other Cats courses but the greens were HORRIBLE > I will make sure to tell you and all my friends DONT PLAT THERE
Thanks for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We do appreciate your patronage and feedback. We are working hard daily to provide our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience. Be sure to check out our other three Big Cats courses. Thanks again!
GolfNow great value.
Course was in a reasonably good condition considering we had a 45-minute frost delay. Absolutely would play there again
Thank you so much for the awesome Five 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
Thank you so much for the 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
Thank you so much for the 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
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and feedback. We are working hard daily to provide our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience. We hope you visit again soon and see our continued progress. Be sure to check out our other three Big Cat courses as well. Thanks again!
Talamore Golf Resort Stay & Play Package
Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club Stay & Play Package
Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club Stay & Play Package
Charleston Golf Experience Stay & Play Package
Thank you for taking the time to review your visit to Lion's Paw. We truly appreciate your patronage and your feedback. The extreme drought conditions of the last couple of months have been very challenging to navigate, as we have an extremely limited supply of water on this property. Many courses have supplement sources of water (Underground springs, well, etc) but there is no underground source of water on this property. We have tried for years to find some. With that being said, we manage the water we have as efficiently as possible and that can cause browning of the grass in certain areas during times of extreme drought such as this. The hearty Bermuda grass in the fairways and other areas will bounce back very quickly once we get some significant rainfall. We have had two brief showers this week (The first measurable rainfall in almost 2 months) and that should help jump start the recovery. It looks like more rain is on the way this weekend and that should allow us to get back to more normal irrigation practices and get the course greened back up, as it typically would be in the warmer seasons. We apologize you did not catch us at our best on this visit, but we are working hard to provide each of our guests with a fun and memorable golf experience, and, with a little help from Mother Nature, we should be looking great again very soon. Thanks again.
Thank you for taking the time to review Lion's Paw, We appreciate your patronage and feedback. The current drought is certainly affecting this Big Cat Course. We are hoping for a good rain, which should improve conditions dramatically.
Thanks again!