Lion's Paw Golf Links

The course

The golf at Lion's Paw Golf Links

Two designers are credited at Lion's Paw, Willard Byrd and Tim Cate, on a traditional layout that opened in 1990 at Ocean Isle Beach. The scorecard reads par 72 and 7,003 yards with a slope of 137, though the course is generally rated an easier play than that number suggests, which usually means generous corridors off the tee and difficulty concentrated around the green complexes. Reviewers back this up. One group used it as an opening round precisely because it was not too difficult, and another player noted misjudging a hole after expecting a creek across the fairway that never appeared, a reminder that local knowledge matters more here than length does.

Conditioning is the story, and it is not a flattering one. The most common words in reviews include poor, terrible and worst, and the specific complaints repeat: fairways in poor shape, greens with very little grass, and greens in bad shape on the back nine in particular. The Mini Verde surfaces can clearly be good, since several reviewers describe conditions as great, but the variance between reports is wide enough that two golfers playing months apart may not recognise each other's description of the place. Practice space is limited to a driving range and a putting green, with no chipping area or practice bunker, so there is little chance to test the short game before heading out. Weather has also cost visitors rounds here, with reports of play switched to a neighbouring course because of frost.

The numbers are honest about all of this. From 240 reviews the average is 3.07, with only 38 five star ratings against 36 one star ratings and 45 at two stars. That is a third of all reviewers leaving unhappy, which is far worse than the Myrtle Beach norm. The counterweight is a group of defenders who say they do not understand why the course attracts so many bad comments, plus players who loved it and plan to return. What emerges is a decent design that has struggled with turf, priced and positioned accordingly. Anyone booking it should treat conditioning as a genuine risk rather than an unlikely bad day.