Traditional NC Border Public
Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
Willard Byrd's 1990 design at Sea Trail in Sunset Beach is a traditional par 72 of 6,649 yards, slope 130, recently through a renovation. It fits budget-conscious groups who value layout over polish.
Designed by Willard Byrd
- Par
- 72
- Yards
- 6,649
- Slope
- 130
- Holes
- 18
- Opened
- 1990
- Greens
- Bermuda
Why groups book it
What you are paying for at Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
The pedigree
Willard Byrd
A Traditional layout that opened in 1990 and plays to a par of 72 over 6,649 yards.
The test
Slope 130
6,649 yards and a slope of 130. Enough teeth to be worth the tee time, fair enough that the whole group finishes with a card worth signing.
The greens
Bermuda
Putting surfaces are Bermuda. The practice ground carries a chipping green, a driving range and a putting green, so the speed is no surprise on the first green.
The verdict
3.6 out of 5
Across 887 reviews left by golfers who booked through us, 59% scored Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course four stars or better. None of it is edited and none of it is paid for.
Live tee times
Play the Byrd Course at Sea Trail Golf Club.
Checking the tee sheet…
Live rates per golfer, cart included. Booking opens in our tee sheet with your day and group size already set.
The course
The golf at Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
The Byrd Course is the shortest of this group at 6,649 yards, a traditional 1990 layout by the architect it is named for. Par 72, slope 130, Bermuda greens, and a difficulty rating of easy. On paper it is the sort of round that keeps a mixed group moving and happy. In practice the experience has been uneven, and the review record is the most polarised of any course here.
- Access
- Public
- Style
- Traditional
- Practice
- Chipping Green, Driving Range, Putting Green
- Address
- 75A Clubhouse Rd, Sunset Beach, NC 28468
Across 942 reviews the average sits at 3.59. Break that down and you get 235 five-star, 317 four-star, 213 three-star, and a substantial 177 ratings at two stars or below. Nearly one round in five ended badly enough to warrant a low score. Conditioning drives almost all of it. Reviewers use words like poor and rough alongside praise for the layout, and the recurring complaint is aeration timed badly, including one group told two months in advance it would not happen during their visit only to arrive and find it had.
The more recent picture is genuinely better. Renovation work appears repeatedly in the positive reviews, described as a great improvement and coming along well, with one visitor calling the grounds and facility beautiful enough to add to an annual rotation. That trend matters when reading an average built from years of history. Alongside the golf, food pricing draws its own complaint, with one group of 20 citing a hot dog at $10.63 as part of the reason they voted to drop the course from future outings. Cart and pace issues surface in the sampled language. Practice areas cover range, putting green, and chipping green. The fair summary is a decent Willard Byrd routing that has been improving, sold at a price where the value case works if the group knows what it is buying. Sunset Beach puts the course over the North Carolina line, roughly the same run as the other border tracks, which makes pairing them on a single day straightforward. Buggy and pace complaints appear often enough to suggest booking an early time rather than a midday one.
The look
Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course in pictures
Getting there
75A Clubhouse Rd, Sunset Beach, NC 28468
Course reviews
What golfers said about Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
Every one of these was left by a golfer who booked through us and played the course. Nothing is edited and nothing is paid for.
- 5 star 25%
- 4 star 33%
- 3 star 23%
- 2 star 13%
- 1 star 6%
Cool clubhouse and deal with food and beer vouchers.
Gorgeous course and the refinished clubhouse was stunning. Our 2nd favorite course of the trip
They aerated a week before we arrived and even though we brought this up to the scheduler 2 months ago were told that wouldn't happen but it did.
Reply from the courseHi Patrick I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and Mr. Krueger for working with me on the recent trip. We also appreciate you filling out the post-trip survey, as we share those comments with the golf courses and property management companies. As for the Aerification Schedule, the course was closed for aerification 6/7-6/10, which gave the turf ample time to recover from aerification. Your group leader and I spoke about it and were both confident recovery would be complete the day you played the course. While here, you may have noticed that the entire area was and still is in drought conditions, which might have inhibited growth a little. Asd for the bathroom situation in your unit, the property manager, your group leader, and I, even while being away on vacation, were always in constant contact. The options were limited, but we could have made the move to another couple of units, but your group leader said 3 bathrooms in one unit would be fine. When your group leader then decided the next day he wanted to switch units, the units were already rented, and Sea Trail was completely sold out. We are currently working with Mr Krueger on getting a quote out for next year so we can get that discount on lodging applied. Let's get me those arrival and departure dates Thanks again for all your feedback, and I do hope you understand that sometimes things happen that are out of anyone's control. Have a Great rest of your Summer and Happy Independence Day
Course in nice shape. Greens were punched recently which is always annoying. Dont think that was disclosed
Read all 83 recent reviews Show fewer reviews
A better course that Bird and very enjoyable.
Renovations are coming along great. It will just keep getting better
Lived Sea Trail! It was the first time we’ve played that course and it’s an automatic to add to our annual “must play” list. Beautiful grounds and facility!
Awesome improvement with the renovation.
Great improvement on the course! Would recommend to anyone!
Awesome track, great conditions. Cart was awesome with plenty of convenient tech tools on it. Looking forward to playing again in the future
Course was in good shape and fun to play. Staff was pleasant and accomodating.
sand traps need sand and inconsistent
Understand that the Sea Trail Byrd course is being improved but frankly it was not quite ready for our group!! The construction in the immediate area combined with winds made is much less desirable and my annual group voted it off the island!!
Conditions not very good didn’t matter where ball ended up fairway or rough sand base underneath with no grass just beat up not worth playing
Conditions weren’t great would expect better
Greens were fairly slow. Course condition was excellent. They doing a significant amount of construction beside several holes and on the 9th hole. Course staff were excellent.
One of the groups favorite courses. Clubhouse and everything all brand new.
Tee boxes were in rough shape
Course was in good shape, but adjoining course under reconstruction made air very dusty, and a great deal of noise from heavy construction equipment. Staff was very friendly.
We liked this course. Had a great time playing it.
Good conditions. Helpful and friendly staff. Pace of play good.
Great course great conditions made for great day off golf
Great course in great shape really enjoyed playing the course great pick.
I really enjoyed this course also
The front nine was an unpleasant experience with all the construction and earthmoving equipment on both sides of several fairways. Noisy and dusty. Should have put us on the Jones course.
Greens too firm
Greens could had been more receptive
Course is a lot of fun but tee boxes needed mowing otherwise great course
Our group had a lot of fun on this course
Really liked it , the best course we played this week
Love this course nice to see it back to it’s former glory
Course was in nice shape
Because of the over seeding and heavily watered fairways it was disappointing
Average and overpriced
Very nice course, some of the greens were patched and under repair
Good conditions, greens nice but still a little slow. Staff was friendly
Wet but that isn’t controllable staff not friendly want money for pictures and par 3 don’t need that
Great staff, course was “ok” not much character
Staff were friendly. It rained the entire round but the course did not get sloppy. Greens were amazing
Nice track but if they really wanted to be a good destination they need to spend a little more time on the details of the course. It needs just a little TLC to be in the big boy camp
Course was nice
Liked the course, in decent shape!
Renovations of the course and club house are outstanding
sand traps sand was hard packed, could of been due to rain over night and were still damp. other than that we enjoyed the course
Fairways were a little sparse. Greens were good.
The course was not bad but the lack of a driving range or putting facility was a negative.
No driving , good course
Need a driving range and putting range
Could have used some water coolers at tees
Couldn't believe no GPS on carts,but accommodations were great
Good course but the bunkers didn't have much sand. Could have been because of all the rain they had recently.
club house and breakfast were the best sitting on the deck after a round was a great time course and greens were in great shape
Fairways were a little bit softer than concrete. We understand they have had little rain, so turn on the irrigation! Other courses in the area had grass in the fairways.
Nice course very dry and hard but layout is amazing
haven't played there in a while, pleasantly surprised
Perfect location and great course.
The course was okay, the concessions though were way overpriced, almost $11 for dog- come on…….
Had some sanding and greens were really quick.
Greens were new, wouldn’t hold at all. Didn’t care for layout either, wouldn’t recommend this course
very nice course. the greens were fast and in great shape. very kid friendly. love to see a course that has jr tee boxes. would play here again.
hard to day as the weather was a problem - too cold
Should be much better in a year.
Fairways and rough have not grown in yet. Greens were good.
Course was in good shape. Greens were new but fun to play on
Good layout and condition.
Again, favorite course
Greens were in good shape
Great shape, could be more challenging, we played Byrd.
Greens good, Fairways good, surrounds, not so much. a bit rough in the rouch, but not greened up yet. Likely better later in the season.
A very nice track. Pace of play was good.
Nice but greens were fast!!
Byrd was always my least favorite course of the three. That was before the renovations. Thank You! It is amazing how a few tweaks can change the course. I hope this is a preview of things to come on the other two.
Great place to stay, great accommodations and amenities.
Greens were fast and hard!Nothing stuck on greens
Nice course as we enjoyed it
Tough course Employees are very cordial
Good course. Recommend they at 150 yard posts/markers visible from the tee. Greens in great condition.
Beautiful and challenging layout, greens very fast and conditions superbe, must play course, only issue no range, surprising for a golf resort of this level
Very nice club house can be confusing
Excellent shape. New, hard, fast greens
Course had overseeded and was cart path only. We had a 91 yr old in our group and course was not allowing handicap flag. We took rain checks and went elsewhere.
#3 this was a surprise we will come back for sure great food and club house.
Avg course and renovation has a lot to be desired. Greens are the best part of the reno. Plenty of other courses in area to choose from.
Vacation rentals
Where to stay near Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
These are the three closest places we book to the course, measured as the drive from the clubhouse rather than in a straight line, so the morning run to the first tee stays short. Lodging is quoted with the golf as one price.
1.2 miles away
Sea Trail Resort Villas
The closest stay we book to Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course, about 1.2 miles by road, with bar/lounge on site.
- Bar/Lounge
- Outdoor Kids Pool
- Outdoor Pool
6.9 miles away
Village at the Glens
Roughly 6.9 miles from the first tee in Little River, with community outdoor pool.
- Community Outdoor Pool
- FREE Parking
- FREE Wi-Fi
8.0 miles away
Crow Creek Villas
Roughly 8.0 miles from the first tee in Calabash, with community outdoor pool.
- Community Outdoor Pool
- Elevator
- FREE Parking
Closest courses to Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course
Pair it with
Sea Trail Golf Club - Jones Course
0.0 miles away
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Sea Trail Golf Club - Maples Course
0.9 miles away
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Sandpiper Bay Golf & Country Club
1.1 miles away
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The Pearl
1.3 miles away
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Thistle Golf Club
1.6 miles away
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Oyster Bay Golf Links
1.6 miles away
3.7 from 15 reviews
Build the trip
Put Sea Trail Golf Club - Byrd Course in a package
Tell us the dates and who is coming. We quote the golf, the lodging and the tee times as one price, and a $100 deposit per golfer holds it.