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.

The maintenance alert indicated that Rec had aerated the greens on 9/7 so I had braced myself for rough greens. It took me 4 shots to get to the first green but when I finally walked up on it I was p... Continue »

The maintenance alert indicated that Rec had aerated the greens on 9/7 so I had braced myself for rough greens. It took me 4 shots to get to the first green but when I finally walked up on it I was pleasantly surprised to find it in pristine condition. I rolled in a smooth one-putt for bogey.

Tee'd off at 6:30 (actual tee time was 6:22). Finished nearly 5 hours later which is not acceptable. There were quite a few groups in front of us. Given that it is not light enough to hit until around 6:25, many of the groups in front had no idea how dark it was going to be when they tee'd off.

As I mentioned, the greens were in excellent shape. My understanding is that Rec did not aerate on 9/7 because it would have interfered with the Men's Club championship. It was indicated that aeration would take place some time in October.

The tee boxes and fairways had been aerated but they were still playable. No complaints from me about overall course conditions.

Tee'd off at 6:00 am on Saturday, August 18. Because of the review given by plumerross9, I desperately searched for a tee time elsewhere but to no avail. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ... Continue »

Tee'd off at 6:00 am on Saturday, August 18. Because of the review given by plumerross9, I desperately searched for a tee time elsewhere but to no avail. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the course was not even close to being as bad as what plumerross9 reported. There was no sign whatsoever that the greens had recently been aerated. They were slower than normal but otherwise in wonderful condition. The rough was spotty, for sure, but no more than usual. In fact, I found that overall course conditions to be par for the course. El Dorado and Skylinks are definitely in much better shape but I found Rec to be satisfactory. Since we finished in 3 hrs 50 mins we hung around for breakfast. Service and food were excellent. I can see, however, how things could deteriorate later in the day. I wouldn't golf ANY of the Long Beach courses past early morning.

What a mess !!!! played Tues. & Thurs. !! all new management, greens were arriated, rough was hard pan, no beverage cart !! 95 degrees , no marshal !!, no manager around, on Thurs, the greens mower wa... Continue »

What a mess !!!! played Tues. & Thurs. !! all new management, greens were arriated, rough was hard pan, no beverage cart !! 95 degrees , no marshal !!, no manager around, on Thurs, the greens mower was leaking oil and the guy never stopped, oil streaks on most every green !! On Thurs. we did see the beverage cart once !! parked on the 7th hole, girl never moved ,was talking on the phone. Got in at the bar, sat for 15 minuets, no service !!! went to the bar, no one there, left !!!
will not go back until someone reports good news !!