Played Rec Park on this Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. Check in simple paid 28.00 to ride and off we went. Played with Derick, David & Pesh all very nice guys. Not to busy today as we never waited on... Continue »

Played Rec Park on this Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. Check in simple paid 28.00 to ride and off we went. Played with Derick, David & Pesh all very nice guys. Not to busy today as we never waited on any shot. Played in just over 4 hours which sometimes at this course is not very easy to do. Tee boxes all nice and level, fairways in really nice shape now as it most of the course. The greens are quick and don’t seem to be holding much of it anything. On hole 5 it was playing 100 yards slightly downhill and I hit a high lob wedge and it hit right in front of the flag and rolled off the green. This is a typical muni course hardly any rough and wide fairways so it’s a great place to work on your game as well. Didn’t see any cart girls but it was fine. Anyways Rec is always a great time and a fun place to play. Definitely recommended.

Okay I know it has been awhile since my last review but this COVID thing just got in the way. I snuck out to Big Rec yesterday at 9:30 for a round. Haven’t played here for a long time but was pleasant... Continue »

Okay I know it has been awhile since my last review but this COVID thing just got in the way. I snuck out to Big Rec yesterday at 9:30 for a round. Haven’t played here for a long time but was pleasantly surprised on the conditions. The course was nice and green with a few overwatered areas. Check in was easy and on time. Tees, fairways, and greens were all good. Bunkers and rough were inconsistent and not well kept but that’s what you get for a muni. We waited on most shots but still finished in 4 hours on a beautiful day. I would play here again.

Played here today with a 12:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time for about $43 after promo code. Pro shop was open for check in (as opposed to the window during Covid) and you still get your cart from the starte... Continue »

Played here today with a 12:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time for about $43 after promo code. Pro shop was open for check in (as opposed to the window during Covid) and you still get your cart from the starter parked right by the first tee (who today seemed to really hate his job, a 180 from the really friendly woman starter I encountered last time I was here). I was paired with another single and a twosome, and we started a couple minutes early. One guy walked while the rest of us rode. The course was busy but pace was great for the first five holes, then slowed down a bit but was still decent. The two groups in front of us were together, and they dropped any pretense on the par-5 14th and started playing as one big, incredibly slow and obnoxious group. Fortunately they realized their party antics were holding people up, so they offered to let us play through on the 15th tee and we flew through the remaining four holes. (They were teeing off on 17 when we were finishing 18.) Total POP around 4:10.

Conditions are mixed and a little inconsistent. Blue tee boxes were mostly good. The fairways were inconsistent, some really nice and other spots thin and seemed more like weeds than grass. The rough was a total mixed bag, you might be sitting up on top or find some long nasty stuff to casual water muddy areas, to thin hardpan. I was in one greenside bunker and it was very nice condition. (Rakes were out.) The greens are far and away the highlight. Aside from too many unfixed ball marks, they were smooth, medium-fast and quite soft. Downhillers require care or they can really get away quickly. One green (13, IIRC) had a rectangular area that looked like they had fixed some damage on the far left side.

Great option to play when it’s hot inland. Today there was a good one- to two-club breeze pretty much all day, keeping things cool and comfortable in the low- to mid-70s. Recommended.

Returned to Rec Park this week with a twilight time on Friday. Not much different in terms of conditions from my last review, but a few things stick out.

Course conditions remain good across the b... Continue »

Returned to Rec Park this week with a twilight time on Friday. Not much different in terms of conditions from my last review, but a few things stick out.

Course conditions remain good across the board with some noticeable exceptions. The bunkers appeared to be a big grainier than before, and some with standing water in them, but nothing that will likely affect your future visit. The greens rolled nicely at medium-fast speeds but a few more ball marks and damaged areas than previous visit.

Tee boxes were okay and the rough was very manageable in most locations. There was no cart service and the cafe is quite inconveniently located at the turn so I would suggest making sure to stock up on what you need when you hit the first hole.

I'm not quite sure why this course gets such a low course rating and slope, but I will discuss that in another post about handicaps. But in summary, Rec Park is in good, not great shape right now but will provide you with a very pleasant afternoon on a fun course.

Played a twilight round at Rec Park with a buddy and was pleasantly surprised by the current conditions across the board. I was surprised when I posted my score that it had been over three years since... Continue »

Played a twilight round at Rec Park with a buddy and was pleasantly surprised by the current conditions across the board. I was surprised when I posted my score that it had been over three years since the last time I played here, so it was nice to get back. I had forgotten plenty of the little intricacies about this place.

The most important one? Stay below the hole! The greens are currently in really excellent shape and running pretty darn quick. The slopes and breaks are subtle but strong here, so it was very difficult to get the distance right on lag putts and had way more three-putts than in normal rounds. Very tough but very nice play.

The course is also quite green right now and you'll be finding lots of good lies in the fairways with the occasional thin area near or around the greens and in the popular landing spots. Rough is in good shape as well and can be somewhat penal if you're in the trees. Lots of mulch areas as well around those trees so be ready to hit ball first out of some awkward angles.

Bunkers were in good shape with plenty of foot traffic reminders in them, but still no rakes. Tee boxes were probably the worst part of the course right now but nothing too terrible. Overall it's just in good shape for as much traffic as this place gets all the time.

Decent variety of holes here but the front does only have one par 3 and one par 5, so it's a bit repetitive, but the lengths vary enough on all the par 4s to keep you on your toes. There are also a few elevations here which you wouldn't expect, and a few bomber holes where you're going to have to hit an excellent tee shot to get home in two fairly regularly.

The intangibles are where the course suffers just a bit right now. The carts are very basic and no frills, as is the odd and segmented driving range, but the large putting practice greens are nice and actually open. There was no cart service all afternoon which was a bit disappointing, and there's no real convenient snack opportunities at the turn if the small snack stand is closed (which it was). The 10th tee box is right next to the 9th green so it's somewhat inconvenient to go all the way back to the clubhouse to grab something.

But yes, overall it was a very positive experience and I was glad to get back. POP was a little bit on the slow side as we waited on quite a few holes, especially the par 3 5th where we were stacked behind two groups. Always enjoy the Long Beach Rhombus of Lakewood, Skylinks, El Do and Rec Park, with each jockeying for top spot depending on course conditions.

Played here today at 11:40 with a TeeOff.com “Deal” time for about $44 (after 15% off promo) w/cart. Check in through a window into the shop and then there’s a little table set up outside with another... Continue »

Played here today at 11:40 with a TeeOff.com “Deal” time for about $44 (after 15% off promo) w/cart. Check in through a window into the shop and then there’s a little table set up outside with another employee who assigns carts. Ended up starting a few minutes early playing with three others, including one walker. After a couple holes, we fell about half a hole behind the group in front of us (the group behind us was nowhere to be seen, though, so no big deal), but ultimately caught them at the 17th tee and had to wait a bit on the last two holes. Overall POP good at around 4:20. Carts had no sand bottles, no rakes in bunkers, no touching the pin, masks required on course the whole time, pool noodle in the cups… yet the mask-less Marshall was driving around and filling divots on the first tee.

Conditions are pretty good. Having played munis on back-to-back days, I’d say Rec Park actually looks better than Harding did yesterday, but where I lucked into avoiding the bare spots and lesser conditioned areas yesterday, I seemed to find a lot of them today. Greens were the highlight of the course… mostly smooth, medium-fast, accepted full shots really well. Fairways had good coverage of healthy green grass, but as I already alluded to, also their fair share of bare spots and unfortunate lies. The rough seemed to be a mix of grasses and also had some bare spots. While the rough isn’t deep, I had trouble making crisp contact when I was in it. (Although that may be due to the fact I hit my irons poorly all day.) Tee boxes were mostly good except the par 3s were definitely more beat up than the others. I was only in one bunker (greenside at 18) and it was full of high quality sand.

Many, many years ago I used to play here and all the Long Beach courses fairly regularly, but then for some reason I started to prefer Skylinks and El Dorado to Rec Park. As a result, I hadn’t been here for probably at least 20 years until today. I really enjoyed the course quite a bit. I still haven’t played Skylinks since the long-ago renovation, but I definitely preferred Rec Park today to what I remember of ElDo. Will consider playing here more often.

I almost always play super early, so teeing off later was quite an adjustment, bit in terms of having much warmer conditions and not being able to play in under three hours, but since the weather was ... Continue »

I almost always play super early, so teeing off later was quite an adjustment, bit in terms of having much warmer conditions and not being able to play in under three hours, but since the weather was very nice and the company was good, it wasn't all that bad. Plus I have always liked playing Rec Park. While not the most difficult of the Long Beach courses, it has always been my favorite.

Conditions were good, better than expected. Greens rolled well, decent pace. Fairways had good coverage, and the bunkers were well groomed. Some spots in the rough needed attention, but overall, no complaints. Recommend playing Rec Park.

Played Sunday, 1/31, at 7:00 am. Crisp morning that evolved into a decent, sunlit day. Still checking in people through the back window in the pro shop but the restaurant is open early which was app... Continue »

Played Sunday, 1/31, at 7:00 am. Crisp morning that evolved into a decent, sunlit day. Still checking in people through the back window in the pro shop but the restaurant is open early which was appreciated.

I have not played here in a while and I was pleased with the conditions. Even though we had rain recently, the fairways were mowed with little residual moisture. The fairways were tight winter lies though. The rough was cut down and not much of a factor. The sand was in good shape. The greens were much improved from my last time here. Slower in the morning quickening as the round progressed. I had a four foot downhill putt on the par 3 16th that I barely tapped and it slid 3 feet past the hole.

Pace of play was also nice. Two hours at the turn, four hours total. We had to wait most holes being a 3 following a 4, but nothing too bad. Overall a nice morning.

Teed off at Rec on Sunday, 11/8, at 730am about 10 min late but didn't wait on a shot all day. The pace was under 3:45! The wind was howling all morning and made the round very challenging. The condit... Continue »

Teed off at Rec on Sunday, 11/8, at 730am about 10 min late but didn't wait on a shot all day. The pace was under 3:45! The wind was howling all morning and made the round very challenging. The conditions are just okay with everything from the tee boxes to the greens needing a little bit of TLC. I always enjoy Rec as the layout is challenging enough to keep you on your toes but not a extremely difficult track. Hopefully, they'll get some rain this season and the course will improve the conditions. $43 to walk with a resident card isn't a bad deal but it's $58 without.