Big Rec on Fri., July 5, 7AM walking 4-ball. PoP slow ^rant on^: 5-somes galore and not in any hurry ... don't get how peeps play early and are clueless on PoP ... never saw a marshal ... 4.5 hr roun... Continue »

Big Rec on Fri., July 5, 7AM walking 4-ball. PoP slow ^rant on^: 5-somes galore and not in any hurry ... don't get how peeps play early and are clueless on PoP ... never saw a marshal ... 4.5 hr round waiting on most every shot ... ^rant off^. Course in decent shape as Kikuyu fairways were mostly green and good lies, getting patchy as you move away from center. Poa greens rolled slow-ish to medium speed with a few bumps here and there. Bunkers ranged from poor to unplayable: wet and not conditioned in what looked like some time now. All in all, good parkland layout at Rec but paying $54 to walk is way overpriced. Worth a play a few times a year though, I guess.

Always love playing Big Rec. Quality links, actually in pretty d%mn good shape right now. Now, I wish that they would eliminate fivesomes and get the marshall more on top of speeding up the slow pla... Continue »

Always love playing Big Rec. Quality links, actually in pretty d%mn good shape right now. Now, I wish that they would eliminate fivesomes and get the marshall more on top of speeding up the slow play fivesomes out there, then we'd back at proper quality. Perhaps put in a pond.

Recreation Park is probably my favorite of the Long Beach golf courses. It always felt like a "walk in the park". The course is fun, yet enough of a challenge to keep your interest.

Course was ... Continue »

Recreation Park is probably my favorite of the Long Beach golf courses. It always felt like a "walk in the park". The course is fun, yet enough of a challenge to keep your interest.

Course was in reasonably good condition. I am impressed how good the greens roll given the amount of play they receive. Fairways nice and green and generally provided good lies. Bunkers appeared OK, although I was able to avoid them.

My complaint with Recreation is it is just too expensive. If you play early you can avoid the slow pace of play typically encountered here, but when you consider it cost just $16.50 to play Los Verdes (Senior rate) causes me to limit my play of all the Long Beach Courses. (Lakewood excluded)

Played on Monday, Memorial Day, to what was a perfect weather day. Tee'd off at 2:00 to what seemed like a uncrowded course, but the round still took 5 hours because of a very slow group two groups in... Continue »

Played on Monday, Memorial Day, to what was a perfect weather day. Tee'd off at 2:00 to what seemed like a uncrowded course, but the round still took 5 hours because of a very slow group two groups in front of us. The course was moving until hole 8 where the was three groups waiting to tee off. I haven't played "Big Rec" in years and I very much enjoyed myself. The conditions were decent. Tees - The tees have been punched recently, but that did not effect anything. Fairways - good lies the entire day, not in great shape but they are very playable. Rough - rough is a mixed bag, from very thick and nasty to thin. Bunkers - this sand with a hard bottom. Had a difficult time getting the ball to stop on the greens when hitting from the bunkers. The greens were fast and you need to be able to spin the ball out of the bunkers to have a good chance. Greens - Rolled medium fast leaning towards the faster side. It is a heavily played course and not may people fix ball marks. It took me a few holes to get used to the speed. the rolled good most of the day and became bumpy towards the end of the day. Overall I enjoyed my round as this course has a good variety of holes and some are just downright fun to play. Course is not overly difficult and good scores can be had here. For $29 to walk, I will be back soon.

Big Rec this AM (LB Golf Festival, Senior Division), got around in 4:45, not too bad for tournament play. Course very green Kikuyu/Poa with some bare/semi-muddy spots, some marked GUR, some not ... I... Continue »

Big Rec this AM (LB Golf Festival, Senior Division), got around in 4:45, not too bad for tournament play. Course very green Kikuyu/Poa with some bare/semi-muddy spots, some marked GUR, some not ... I seemed to find a lot that 'were not'. Rough challenging if your ball settled in that damp grass. Greens somewhat disappointing as they were a tad slow with some bumps thrown in for good measure ... was expecting real smooth and fast. Only in one GS bunker, good condition but thin layer of sand over clay.

Overall, it's the same ol' Rec Park: no frills golf, no H20 penalty areas, gentle rolling hills (very walkable) with some challenging holes ... and some easy holes. Never was a fan which is why I only play here a few times a year.

Recommended for what it is: a decent muni in the center of Long Beach (yes, there's a bit of street noise to contend with, too).

Played 4/18, in the best shape in a couple of years, new greenskeeper, and staff since last fall. Quit playing here last year but we are back as regular. Not a fan of American Golf, but they did somet... Continue »

Played 4/18, in the best shape in a couple of years, new greenskeeper, and staff since last fall. Quit playing here last year but we are back as regular. Not a fan of American Golf, but they did something right here !! Only negative is the lack of service on course, no food or beverage !!!

Today was my first time out at big rec, I have played el dorado and sky links in the past and enjoyed them for the most part. Greens were punched a couple weeks ago and they’ll need another couple wee... Continue »

Today was my first time out at big rec, I have played el dorado and sky links in the past and enjoyed them for the most part. Greens were punched a couple weeks ago and they’ll need another couple weeks before being in good shape, although not unplayable at the moment, just slow and some bumps. Fairways have good coverage for the most part and course is overall very green. Rough can be thick in spots. Sand traps looked Okay but wasn’t in any. I will admit after the first two holes I wasn’t sure why I drove up to Long Beach but the course improves as you go and I found the back nine was very enjoyable with some nice elevation change and doglegging holes. The courses main defense seems to be the small size of the greens but nothing too tough about this track.

Played Big Rec this AM with a 4:20 PoP so there was some waiting but not too bad. Much drier than my idol Weber's review from a couple week ago. Fairways were still shaggy and they're punching them,... Continue »

Played Big Rec this AM with a 4:20 PoP so there was some waiting but not too bad. Much drier than my idol Weber's review from a couple week ago. Fairways were still shaggy and they're punching them, so large plugs were everywhere (but only on the back nine). Some real shaky lies when you're playing it down. Rough extra long, finding balls took some work. Greens were firm, flowering Poa and they do need aeration (scheduled in a week or so, thanks Johnny) as even a delicate chip shot would run out considerably. And, for some unknown reason, almost every other hole had the pin from 5-8 feet from the edges, mostly in front (red flag). Made approach shots super difficult. Tough day of golf. Still, a nice change as I've not played here in a few years. Old school layout with mature trees and no H2O 'penalty areas', rolling hills and a parkland style once you get away from street traffic after #6. Pricey for a muni: $43 weekday walking rate (non-res). But good to play it once in a blue moon. Suggest to wait until April when maintenance is over.

Looking for somewhere to play where is was not either frozen or flooded. Called around and decided Recreation would meet that criteria. 41 degrees when I arrived prior to 6am. I was lucky that the t... Continue »

Looking for somewhere to play where is was not either frozen or flooded. Called around and decided Recreation would meet that criteria. 41 degrees when I arrived prior to 6am. I was lucky that the twosome of seniors who claim they always tee off first, told me it was OK if I went out in front of them, so off I went at 6:07am in the dark. What I was not aware of is they have lights on the first two holes which really helped, so that by #3, I could see well enough.

The course is very wet and it appears that they have not mowed fairways for a while, so you get zero roll. I mean the course played LONG ! The greens were excellent, albeit a little slower than expected. I am very impressed that this muni with all the play they get, has greens of this quality. Certainly on par or better than the high end Orange County courses as well as the private courses. ( I won't mention names) Tee boxes were not great, and could use some attention.

Always a joy to play Rec Park. It's just a wonderful old style type course which doesn't require you to do anything special, just hit decent shots and you'll be rewarded. My only complaint is the cost. Too much $$ for non residents