Lion'S Paw Course

Few courses on the North Carolina coast announce themselves quite like Lion's Paw, whose name alone signals something more than a routine round. Part of the Sunset Beach resort complex developed by Tim Cate in the late 1980s and early 1990s — alongside its sibling tracks Leopard's Chase and Tiger's Eye — Lion's Paw is widely regarded as the most demanding of the 3, a big, muscular layout that has earned a loyal following among players who want to be genuinely tested in a coastal setting.

Sunset Beach sits at the southern tip of Brunswick County, just north of the South Carolina border, in a stretch of coastline that has quietly become one of the Mid-Atlantic's more underrated golf destinations. The low country landscape delivers wide marshland views, native grasses, and the kind of soft coastal light that makes even a frustrating round feel worthwhile.

Lion's Paw plays long and uses its wetlands and water features as real strategic hazards rather than decoration. It rewards careful course management and punishes ambition — bring both your best game and a realistic game plan.