Ocean Ridge Plantation - Tigers Eye

Tiger’s Eye® Golf Links, one of Ocean Ridge Plantation’s crown jewels, is an upscale daily-fee 18-hole golf course carved from a virgin pine and hardwood forest in Sunset Beach, N.C.

Designed by golf course architect and land planner Tim Cate, Tiger’s Eye is one of four championship layouts at Ocean Ridge Plantation®; — Panther’s Run®, Cate’s first solo effort, Lion’s Paw® and the newly opened Leopard’s Chase®.

Tiger's Eye has been recognized by several national golf publications as being among the best in the country. The course is currently ranked Number 73 on Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Public Golf Courses in America”. It is also Number 3 on Golf Digest's list of "Top 50 Courses in Myrtle Beach" and has earned 4 1/2 stars in their prestigious Places to Play 2006-2007 rankings. Tiger's Eye was also ranked No. 6 in North Carolina by Golfweek magazine.

Cate took advantage of the land’s setting, giving each hole its own unique personality.

The varying challenges of the greens mirror the classic look and feel of Pinehurst. The generous, undulated, fast-paced greens, which resemble warped plywood, yield numerous pin placements that are obscured from view and guarded by water and/or sand hazards.

The mature long leaf pine groves also add to the Pinehurst look of Tiger’s Eye, but the mature, dense hardwood forest that lines the fairways and encircles the greens remind golfers that they’re in the Lowcountry.

Tiger’s Eye exemplifies Cate’s unique design philosophy, which focuses on accenting the natural features of the land. Cate took great care to make his work look as though it’s nature’s own design.

The cost to build the Tiger’s Eye facility — clubhouse and course — was nearly $10 million.

Distinguished by dramatic elevation changes reminiscent of the North Carolina sand hills and a stunning combination of natural waste areas, native grasses, wild flowers, pine and oak trees and 40 acres of water features— including a preserved Carolina Bay and a coquina-bouldered waterfall — Tiger’s Eye is a thinking-man’s course requiring precise shotmaking and an experienced, creative shortgame.

Several holes and lakes on Tiger’s Eye are framed by mammoth, native coquina boulders, which were mined on the original plantation and at a nearby commercial mine.

More than a half-mile of coquina boulders, weighing an average of four tons each, were used to erect bulkheads throughout Tiger’s Eye. More than 35,000 tons — or 72 million pounds — of coquina boulders were used on the course.

Many of the coquina boulders were native to the plantation’s irrigation ponds, while the remaining boulders came from a nearby commercial mine. The boulders came from different layers of the earth, with some having shark’s teeth, million-year-old mastodon teeth, shells and other sentiments encased in them.

Tiger’s Eye measures 7,010 yards from the championship tees; 6,628 yards from the blue tees; 6,115 yards from the white tees; 5,328 yards from the gold tees; and 4,640 yards from the red tees. Par is 72.

The front nine of Tiger’s Eye features five holes that require golfers to carry water and three holes where waste areas are routed around oak trees and come into play off the tee. The back nine features the most dramatic elevation changes on the course, five more holes where water must be carried, a par 3 island green, and a waterfall next to the 18th tee complex.

The layout features large, undulating Penn G2 bent grass greens built to USGA specifications and generous, well-manicured TiftSport Bermuda fairways. Fescue and carpetgrass line each fairway in the secondary rough.

Most of the sand bunkers were handcrafted and are filled with pearl-white sand reminiscent of Augusta National. The collars of the sand bunkers are zoysia grass.

The par 3s at Tiger’s Eye are exceptionally beautiful. For example, No. 11 is a large, undulating island green surrounded by white coquina boulders and a pearl-white, gaping sand bunker. Its degree of challenge is reminiscent of the famed 17th hole at the TPC of Sawgrass.

The sounds of rushing water greets golfers at the closing hole, a difficult but picturesque par 5 measuring 565 yards from the back tees. A five-foot waterfall to the left of the tee complex marks the start of the hole, which also features a stream that flows from the left side, across the fairway, and then up the right side, from where a 200-yard waste bunker takes the golfer the rest of the way to the green. In addition, four fairway bunkers must be negotiated on the way to the green, which reaches into a lake and is surrounded by coquina rocks. These bunkers are positioned as visual aids to help the golfer navigate the hole.

The tee complexes have been carefully designed for ease and convenience for those who choose to walk. Motorized walking carts will be available for rental.