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

Played on 1/13/19. In between the rain, so expected to be wet on the course, and that is what I got. The great part of the day was, the guy in the clubhouse said the ball picker was down for the range... Continue »

Played on 1/13/19. In between the rain, so expected to be wet on the course, and that is what I got. The great part of the day was, the guy in the clubhouse said the ball picker was down for the range, so he said we could go out and pick up balls, if we wanted to. So at the time when I went, no one was hitting on one side of the range, so I got a basket and ventured out on an easter egg hunt!

The course was in ok shape. Winter conditions on the fairway, occasional bare spots on the fairway, wet and muddy. Grass was somewhat consistent, but there were parts of the fairway that was longer. Rough was pretty much the same. The greens were the surprising part. They were slower due to the rain, but it rolled pretty smooth. The sand is tought to judge with rain. A lot of standing water due to the rain.

Hopefully the rain this week will help with the grass condition. Maybe in a month or so the course might look better.

First time back out at Rec Park in nearly two years on Saturday (along with Kassper7) and it was a much better experience than I was anticipating. My last memory of Big Rec was horribly thin lies, ter... Continue »

First time back out at Rec Park in nearly two years on Saturday (along with Kassper7) and it was a much better experience than I was anticipating. My last memory of Big Rec was horribly thin lies, terrible tee boxes and an overall poor experience.

But Saturday proved to be quite the opposite. I jumped in late and the starter worked his magic to not only get me in the group, but also make us just a threesome instead of five. Very easy and convenient to go from the starter to the practice area to the tee box and away we went.

Course conditions are not too bad at all. The fairways are a mixed bag of lush, thin and somewhere in between depending on where your shot lands, but miles ahead of where it was a few years ago when I was last here. Rough was often a good choice (except for a bees nest under a power box that I landed near) as it was not penal. Sand seemed to be in pretty good shape as well in the two bunkers I found. But the greens were really surprisingly fast and in good shape. A few holes with some crazy slopes to them, but no real tricky or gimmicky greens to deal with at all. Kudos to the staff for those.

Rec Park starts out with two short par 4s (one downhill, one uphill), but then you start getting to the meat of the course with many long par 4s. In fact, on the front nine, there is only one par 3 and one par 5 - the rest are all par 4s, so you can let your score get away from you quickly. Back nine is more 'normal' and provides better scoring opportunities in my opinion (or maybe just because I played the back far better than the front).

Cart service came around a few times during the round on a relatively busy Saturday that did see us waiting on many holes for the slower foursome ahead of us, but nothing too sinister. There was also a little grill at the turn to get some eats which was nice.

Overall, not a bad time at all to play Rec Park and I think I'll be back much sooner than last time.

Teed off at 9am Wednesday morning and finished in 4 hours. The greens were in good condition although a little bumpy at times. Greens played a little firm. The fairways had mostly good coverage with s... Continue »

Teed off at 9am Wednesday morning and finished in 4 hours. The greens were in good condition although a little bumpy at times. Greens played a little firm. The fairways had mostly good coverage with some thin spots and areas still recovering from the heavy rains of two weeks ago. The rough was fair to good with some thin/bare areas. The tee boxes were decent. The bunkers felt firm under foot but played decent. Rec is a fun track to play with rolling terrain but walkable. The staff was friendly.