Long Beach - Recreation Park and El Dorado Park

spartan6910 · April 22, 2019

Gonna be playing in a tournament at these courses in a couple weeks but will not have time available to get up to LB from San Diego for practice rounds. I'd love to hear from anyone who has played one or both on experiences and also any tips/tricks of the courses.

From what I see online, they both look like relatively short, straightforward courses. Are the greens tricky? What are typical conditions/wind? Current conditions looking ok? Any information would be helpful and greatly appreciated!

tw422 · April 24, 2019

You are correct on both with Rec Park being the more straightforward of the two courses. Both are fairly simple and depending on the greens can be pretty easy. Rec Park in particular has few short par 4's and reachable par 5's. Boring course but not in a bad way. Good shots are rewarded appropriately. El Dorado has a bit more variety with some water and longer par 3's/4's. I've played both many times and don't remember wind being an issue. Conditioning will be similar as both get a ton of play (El Dorado prob has the edge). They are mid to low tier muni's and therefore have to appeal to broad base of customers in the LB/South Bay. Good luck in the tornament (SCGA Pub Links?).

spartan6910 · April 25, 2019

Thank you.

Yes, SCGA PubLinks. The player information for the tourney definitely paints Rec Park as the shorter, easier course.

Looking forward to it, and sounds like I won't be caught out with tricks or anything. Good to know.

wmblake2000 · April 26, 2019

I haven't played Rec in several years, so I will defer. The thing about El Do is, if they have the rough high, it is a pain, so fairways are important. The greens are generally straight forward, sloping back to front mainly. Flat, tree-lined, not much wind. Can be had, but from the fairways. Lots of kikuyu around the greens so you need to know short game from that nasty grass! I quite like the course, myself. Good luck

Tingting · April 26, 2019

LB resident here. My backyard is the golf course. El Dorado is my favorite LB course. You have to be straight off of the tee. It has lots of trees and they are mature. The rough is long. The greens was fast last week. Wind hasn't been a factor. Rec is more open and has more elevation changes and the greens are tricky in certain certain holes.

lookylookitzadam · April 26, 2019

Rec Park is a fun short course. If your driver is on you can get on a few par 4s and have short/mid irons into par 5s. I think you can plan your whole round out on google maps if you wanted to since there isn't much trickery at all. The first 4 holes tend to be slow as they play back and forth along each other so you spend a good amount of time waiting for fairways to clear.

spartan6910 · April 26, 2019

Thank you all for the input. I'm definitely planning on doing some Google Maps/Earth pre-planning. Sounds like I'll really have to take advantage of Rec and then play solid/consistent on El Dorado.

Looking forward to it, and thanks again.

JumboJack · April 27, 2019

Agree with the other comments. Hitting fairways is important at El Dorado. Rec is more open and you can be more aggressive on most holes. At El Do, watch your tee shot on 11 and 13 and 15 as you can reach the water.

spartan6910 · April 28, 2019

> @JumboJack said:

> Agree with the other comments. Hitting fairways is important at El Dorado. Rec is more open and you can be more aggressive on most holes. At El Do, watch your tee shot on 11 and 13 and 15 as you can reach the water.

Excellent. Thank you!

rangersgoalie · April 28, 2019

> @spartan6910 said:

> Thank you all for the input. I'm definitely planning on doing some Google Maps/Earth pre-planning. Sounds like I'll really have to take advantage of Rec and then play solid/consistent on El Dorado.

> Looking forward to it, and thanks again.

When you get on google earth, look at the doglegs. Depending on how far you carry your driver, the turning point on a number of holes creates some challenges. Not all are layups for sure, but there are a few that require you to know exactly how far you want to hit your tee shot.

stashtv · April 30, 2019

Everyone on point with the comparisons between the two.

Big rec: multiple drive-able par4s, including the first hole. The only thing really protecting this course is it's length and *some* elevation. Play it a few times and you'll understand where you want to favor your landing spots in (or talk to the regulars, it's really not a difficult course). Greens are the easiest to read out of the LBC courses, imho. My only advice: watch out on 11's flag, as it's a sucker pin if it's back right -- just aim for center and take any sloping putt you can.

El Dorado is tree city, with a bit of water sprinkled in. Definitely my favorite LBC course with the trees, doglegs, water, etc. While flat, it still poses enough challenges off the tee for your starting line. Definitely the hardest hole is 8: long par4, difficult to choose line, *and* you need to be aggressive with how much you intend to bite off the corner (if you don't want a hybrid or 3w in).

TinkerGolfMan · May 9, 2019

> @Tingting said:

> LB resident here. My backyard is the golf course. El Dorado is my favorite LB course. You have to be straight off of the tee. It has lots of trees and they are mature. The rough is long. The greens was fast last week. Wind hasn't been a factor. Rec is more open and has more elevation changes and the greens are tricky in certain certain holes.

LB Res here also, agreed with @Tingting here! Just played Big Rec this past weekend, super windy during twilight!