Recreation Park 18 Golf Course

This course is beautiful, well-maintained, and playable for alllevels of golfers. Pace of play was a real drawback, but everything else makes it worthwhile. Plus, I got my first hole-in-one here back in 1989!

I like the course, but had no idea we would be behind a tourney. Paid $40, 2:20 time and didn't finish because of darkness.

Played Big Rec Thursday afternoon 3:04 pm tee time on a Golf Now Hot Deal at $25 with cart. My buddy and I were matched with a twosome and sent out approximate 2:40 pm. Course was full, men’s club was out. We played behind a five some, and threesome that moved along very well, and a twosome behind us that was only an issue once when one of the guys pure’d a drive into the par four thirteenth splitting the hole and my buddy who was trying to sink his birdie. (They did call four).

The staff in the pro-shop was cordial if not overworked at the moment. The snack cart made an appearance on the 7th hole. The clubhouse, snack bar/restaurant are old school, and very nice. The driving range is split into two sections and small, but the targets are nicely laid out. The practice green is a bit of a walk from the first tee, but also nice, good size.

For me this course plays very long. As I get acclimated to my new clubs, especially the 3 & 4 hybrid, I am not using my driver or my fairway woods. This was not a great disadvantage as I carry a driver 198, with 208 / 220 being normal after roll out. My 3 wood is close to the same, and my 5 wood is around 180. Even if I had used these clubs, my second shot on many holes would approach 160/200+ yards. The course features only two par threes, both over 130 yards. There are two par fives, one at 522 yards, the other 511 yards. Par fours range between 295 yards and 460 yards with plenty of elevation change on every hole.

This course reinforced the contention of the recent community conversation on the importance of the GIR statistic. In eighteen holes I have two three putts, and two one puts. Overall my putting was very good, on moderately slow, slightly shaggy greens. One of my playing partners had a colorful description but it was somewhat X rated. I managed only one par, on a par four hole.

The carts feature basic GPS. The GPS gives the distance from the cart to the front, center and back of the green, as well as an advertisement for the snack bar on the way in from the ninth hole.

The tee boxes were lush, level, and overall in very good shape, especially given the volume of players on the course, and the late hour we tee’d off. This course uses doglegs, tree lines, and blind greens to challenge the golfer.

The fairways are in excellent condition, overall lush, with careful attention, even using hoses and manually placed sprinklers to assure first class coverage. I found good lies in the fairway regardless of whether it was on the top of a mound, down in a valley or a side hill lie.

Rough wasn’t really penal. There was a first cut along most fairways and around the greens and bunkers cut an inch or so, but very well kept. The collars around the green and in the rough along the fairway near the greens seemed a little deeper but more than fair.

Trees, this course makes use of trees as a defense, and to shape shots. Tall tree’s prevent cutting corners, and low hanging branches make hitting out from underneath or from behind difficult for a tall golfer such as myself.

Bunkers looked very good, deep, steep faces on those around the green. Those in my party that visited the beach got up and down cleanly, none complained of the conditions. I was fortunate enough not to test the quality of the sand or base.

Greens were variety of sizes, most flat, uniformly cut (a little shaggy) and in excellent condition, with only the two par three’s showing damage from ball marks. The greens were receptive to shots airmailed in, but would allow a run shot to roll through. Generous collars around the greens prevented minor miscues from becoming blow up holes. This created the paradox. For someone hitting a 3 hybrid 190 yards, second shots on many of these fourteen par fours required a hybrid or long iron to reach the green, rather than a wedge. Given the my length off the tee, I was unable to reach very many of these greens in regulation, and managed on par on a par four.

I really enjoyed the layout of Recreation Park 18, this was the first time I have played it, and absolutely enjoyed myself because of the length of the course. At $25 it was a steal. This course is also a part of the American Golf Players Club circuit, and as such I should be able to get deals through my membership. Look forward to playing this course again soon.

Parking at peak hours is a little tight.

First time at Rec Park 18 holes. Course is fun.. The facilities are well maintained, pride of ownership, and very friendly and helpful staff. I will return. My only concern are the "hilly" fairways on a few holes, but otherwise you'll find lots of enjoyment.

6 hour round. Starters were putting out 5somes on a Saturday.. got round to the 4th hole and our cart died. Not worth $60 that's for sure

Wednesday morning. All the courses near this one are empty. But you have 2 groups waiting to tee off (thanks to reachable par4 to begin) that starts a back up that lasts until 4th hole.

Weekends are worse. 20min late start is always. I said to an old man infront of my group "would you mind picking up the pace, you are a hole behind." His reply was "why do I have to?" Now I know why it's always backed up.

I will never ever play this course again.

it is the noisiest golf course that i played. other golfers talking si loudly that you can hear their entire conversation from the adjacent hole. shouting from every hole. the loud music from the baseball stadium. i was disappointed that the starter informed me that my son would not be given the junior rate because i booked from golfnow.

There are too many par 4s at 400+ yards with only a small differential between the blue, white and silver tees. With a good drive I had too many holes that my second shot left more than my driver just delivered.

Played on a Friday at 12:30. Course conditions are good. Layout is good. Pace of play was extremely slow. 5 1/2 hour round. Might try this again on an early morning since I like to play at a faster pace.

Great course, the rough was quite deep, lost many balls.

5 groups backed up on hole 3; course did open up a bit after, but still very slow round. Unable to finish with 12:30pm tee time!

Played with two other guys and when we got on at 2:00 there was no one in front of us for several holes. We quickly figured out why the course was so empty. They made us ride our carts on the cartpath only because of the recent rain. If the course had narrower fairways then it may have been tolerable. But the fairways are super wide (good thing typically). But hit the ball on the opposite side of the cartpath and you have yourself one healthy workout. The GPS on the cart is rendered useless in this situation, so overall, nice course, but bad experience. We could have easily finished all 18 before sunset, but we could only do 15 because of all the walking we had to do. It would have probably been easier to walk the course with a bag cart. If it has recently rained, call the course to see if you can actually ride the cart over the course...

1230 tee time but didn't get off til 115pm. Front nine took 2 hr 40 min. Finally it loosened up. We got in 15 holes. I guess that's not too bad after a slow start.

Every time you play this course by the third hole there is a three or four foursomes waiting. Front nine took over three hours to play. Also your 1:00 pm tee time starts at 1:20pm. They always over book the course. After first four holes the course its an extremely nice course but the wait time makes it not a fun course to play.