Gave ElDo another chance this Friday, got there just before 6AM and was off the first tee at 6:10 ... finished 3.5 hours later as a walking 3-some with no waiting ... the advantage of being an early b... Continue »

Gave ElDo another chance this Friday, got there just before 6AM and was off the first tee at 6:10 ... finished 3.5 hours later as a walking 3-some with no waiting ... the advantage of being an early bird. Booked a single time on the SCGA website for $36 non-resident.

Course is, wow, fantastic. Really. So much better than just a week ago. Greens crew were out in full force mowing, rolling greens, and tending bunkers getting ready for the LB Open. Rough was deep, the Kikuyu was brutal, so keeping the ball in the fairway was mandatory. Greens rolling extremely nice, I'd guess a 12 or faster. Really. They were actually a bit soft due to watering, I'm sure footprints around the cup were an issue later in the day. I'd play here every Friday if conditions remain as I found them today. Highly recommended.

A slight decline in course conditions since my last visit to ElDo. Greens were a bit bumpy and not as quick as I like to see, but very playable. Found a few greenside bunkers with minimal/wet sand i... Continue »

A slight decline in course conditions since my last visit to ElDo. Greens were a bit bumpy and not as quick as I like to see, but very playable. Found a few greenside bunkers with minimal/wet sand in some, not fun. Fairway Kikuyu holding up okay, a bit dry in some areas with bare spots in others ... not prime for sure. Got around in just under 5 hours on a Sat. after teeing off at 8AM. Range was open and on grass, still a great chipping area, and two large practice putting greens ... so a nice stop for some practice.

Got out at 1pm as a walkup single. Caught behind a slow foursome which eventually sped up to keep a good pace. Fairways and greens are in great shape. The rough is being grown out, most likely for ... Continue »

Got out at 1pm as a walkup single. Caught behind a slow foursome which eventually sped up to keep a good pace. Fairways and greens are in great shape. The rough is being grown out, most likely for the upcoming Long Beach Open. A good day with a fun round.

Appreciate the comments from jbishop637 and sngernz. You're right - a good portion of my earlier review of El Dorado was venting. Sorry if that wore on folks. But I also had basically the same good th... Continue »

Appreciate the comments from jbishop637 and sngernz. You're right - a good portion of my earlier review of El Dorado was venting. Sorry if that wore on folks. But I also had basically the same good things to say about the course itself as the two of you. My problems were with the service of the staff, and how they handled the problems that built up throughout that day. I get that the remedy for golfers to avoid long rounds may be to play early, but my group plays in the afternoon, so an early morning teetime isn't an option for us. All other things aside, El Dorado is an enjoyable track and the greenskeeper does a great job. Afternoon golfers like my group will just have to take our chances if we want to play there.

Off the first tee at El Do at 6:15 am today, walking foursome got around in 4 hours flat with minimal waiting on the front side ... back side flew by. Not too crowded with no waiting list. Greens ar... Continue »

Off the first tee at El Do at 6:15 am today, walking foursome got around in 4 hours flat with minimal waiting on the front side ... back side flew by. Not too crowded with no waiting list. Greens are slick and true, just perfect poa, with a few unrepaired ball marks here and there. Warning: stay below the hole on #1, especially if it's a red flag, trust me. And the rough was a bit longer than the last few times I played here, so beware. The previous review by jbishop637 sums up the course nicely, but I couldn't read all of sunset9's review. My thought is if you tee off in the afternoon at any muni you shouldn't expect fast play and everything being honky-dory ... it just don't happen too often. To write a full essay on your poor 'experience' means very little other than getting it off your chest.

I enjoyed this course today and it should be getting even better as we get closer to the LB Open. Just play early to avoid the hassle or accept it as part of muni-golf, as sorry as I am to say it. Recommended.

Had a 5:48 tee time on Saturday, May 3. Teed off on time. There were a couple of groups in front of us. We only had to wait on the group in front of us a few times. I think we ended up finishing i... Continue »

Had a 5:48 tee time on Saturday, May 3. Teed off on time. There were a couple of groups in front of us. We only had to wait on the group in front of us a few times. I think we ended up finishing in around 4 hrs 15 mins.

Course was in excellent shape. When I say "excellent", keep in mind that we are talking about a heavily played public course. Nothing is lush on this course but considering the amount of play and the drought conditions, "excellent" is an apt description. Tee boxes were in great condition, fairways were good, rough spotty and greens excellent. This morning, the greens were fast but true.

As to customer service, not sure if sunset9 played on the same day that I did. We were one of the first few groups out so there was no issue with starting late or carts not being available or unavailable range balls. The young girl at the cash register was nice enough. I walked but I know that the guys in our group who rode were immediately descended upon by golfers looking for carts. I didn't stay after the round to eat so I cannot comment about customer service in the bar/restaurant.

There was a large group of guys in orange shirts on the course. Forgot what they called themselves but they were out there in force. Looked like they were all in carts so not sure if their sheer mass drained the stock of carts.

If you tee off EARLY at the Long Beach courses you can almost always bet that your experience will be pleasant.

Second time playing El Dorado. The good things remained good from the first time (2013), but some of the things that were average or even slightly above average were now below what they had been, and ... Continue »

Second time playing El Dorado. The good things remained good from the first time (2013), but some of the things that were average or even slightly above average were now below what they had been, and the things that were weaknesses were bad to horrible. All of the good is course-related: Fairways were well-groomed and almost uniformly grown in and mowed. There were a few bare spots, but that's to be expected on a municipal course with the long-term drought conditions. I've played private courses with fairways that weren't as good. Greens were well-maintained and groomed to medium-fast speed. Every green had unrepaired ballmarks, but far fewer than you would expect with the traffic. The combination of the conditions of the fairways and greens with the fair and sometimes challenging layout was what impressed me the first time I played El Dorado, and my feelings on them remain basically very positive. Now, to the rest of the experience. Customer service was not a weakness the last time around. Not necessarily a strength, but nothing that would have kept me from coming back. This time, it ranged from below average - the pro shop/starters - to poor. I actually gave a complete description of what was basically everyone's experience on Saturday, but it was so long that I deleted nearly all of it out of consideration for other GK members who might want to read info on the course. Let me start this way: The pro shop staff was having to play a bad hand - long delays, machinery breaking down, shortage of carts (more on all of that later) - and that buys them a bit of leeway, but how they chose to handle it was where they fumbled the ball. Poor response to golfers who were understandably upset by one hour delays, no carts, and no range balls. Lots of excuses and a few platitudes, but no taking responsibility or attempts to make up for the inconveniences. At the very least, they should have taken off cart fees for everyone, given that they claimed a major cause of the delays was a lack of carts. The lack of range balls was because the riding ball gatherer was broken, and no one knew how to fix it, or even what was wrong with it. Sorry, but every range has a manual ball gatherer. Would it mean more work than usual for the staff? Yes. Should they have used it. Absolutely. In the two hours before our group finally teed off, not one employee went out to try and gather the range balls for the customers, while eventually golfers started taking turns going out on the range to grab a couple of handfuls of balls to warm up with. But the poor service didn't stop there. The wait staff in the snack bar/bar part of the restaurant was almost surly - at least to those customers who weren't familiar to them. I won't go quite so far as to say that their level of service was determined by race, but others did. Whatever their reasons, the service was as terrible as their attitude, which is really too bad, because other workers in the restaurant and at the grill were trying their best. Maybe those bad attitudes were just a case of a bad day, but again, that poor service was selective, so it's hard to excuse them. I am sure that others may read this and disagree. I can understand that. Like I said, some people received great service, so I expect them to have a completely opposite take on the quality of service. Here's the bottom line: We teed off an hour late, waited on virtually every shot, and finished with barely enough light after a 5 hour and 45 minute round. I won't play El Dorado again until more than a few other GK members have confirmed that these problems - which are all easy fixes - have been taken care of. And I really hope that happens. If it never does, I am absolutely fine with sticking with the dozens of other courses where I am guaranteed a great experience.

played 4/28, 1/2-3/4 of fairways being aerated, medium fast to fast greens speeds, many unrepaired divots, 3.5-4.0 hr POP. Great putting and short game practice areas. Call pro shop to find out what d... Continue »

played 4/28, 1/2-3/4 of fairways being aerated, medium fast to fast greens speeds, many unrepaired divots, 3.5-4.0 hr POP. Great putting and short game practice areas. Call pro shop to find out what days grass range is open otherwise its mats.

Played El Dorado today for the first time in about a dozen years. Was pleasantly surprised on how well the course looked. They had punched one fairway otherwise you had pretty good lie most of the tim... Continue »

Played El Dorado today for the first time in about a dozen years. Was pleasantly surprised on how well the course looked. They had punched one fairway otherwise you had pretty good lie most of the time. Greens firm but probably due to the dry and windy conditions we've had the last few days. This course gets a lot of play. The downside is they let out fivesomes and let them walk! If any of them are hackers you're in for a long round. We will play it again.