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El Dorado at Quail Valley Golf Course
Rating Snapshot
About
Developers eventually had their way with this cow pasture on the fringe of Houston. Loaded with native pecans and oaks and supplemented with even more transplanted trees, the terrain is ideal for golf, with two creeks and five natural lakes on the property. In fact, it's good enough to host the PGA Tour's Houston Open in 1973 and 1974.
The traditional El Dorado Course plays to a par 70 and features five par 3s that go 190-yards-plus from the tips. Jay Riviere designed the back nine.
Jeff Blume managed the redesign and complete renovation of the El Dorado Course in 2009.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 71 | 6931 yards | 74.6 | 138 |
| Blue | 71 | 6552 yards | 72.8 | 135 |
| White | 71 | 6146 yards | 71.0 | 128 |
| Gold | 71 | 5685 yards | 68.7 | 122 |
| Gold (W) | 71 | 5685 yards | 73.8 | 136 |
| Red (W) | 71 | 5100 yards | 70.7 | 123 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 74.6/138 | 526 | 201 | 425 | 403 | 399 | 222 | 578 | 211 | 397 | 3362 | 516 | 222 | 404 | 412 | 224 | 401 | 403 | 399 | 588 | 3569 | 6931 |
| Blue M: 72.8/135 | 515 | 151 | 406 | 378 | 383 | 198 | 552 | 195 | 372 | 3150 | 499 | 204 | 388 | 398 | 208 | 382 | 377 | 385 | 561 | 3402 | 6552 |
| White M: 71.0/128 | 505 | 143 | 374 | 352 | 347 | 187 | 533 | 178 | 358 | 2977 | 484 | 191 | 360 | 372 | 184 | 362 | 342 | 350 | 524 | 3169 | 6146 |
| Gold M: 68.7/122 W: 73.8/136 | 462 | 129 | 352 | 304 | 322 | 170 | 522 | 155 | 339 | 2755 | 468 | 173 | 339 | 355 | 154 | 350 | 320 | 321 | 450 | 2930 | 5685 |
| Red M: 66.3/117 W: 70.7/123 | 420 | 107 | 329 | 261 | 298 | 147 | 463 | 127 | 311 | 2463 | 427 | 148 | 303 | 323 | 115 | 336 | 297 | 264 | 424 | 2637 | 5100 |
| Handicap | 5 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 18 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 12 | |||
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 5 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 6 |
Hot Deals at Quail Valley Golf Club - El Dorado
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Course Details
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Texas (2022 #22)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by u000003288063 on 10/22/2025
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Weather beautiful Photo submitted by u000003288063 on 10/22/2025
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Conditions great Photo submitted by u000003288063 on 10/22/2025
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Photo submitted by Houston2020 on 09/27/2025
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Photo submitted by Houston2020 on 09/27/2025
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Photo submitted by 18Hdotorg on 05/30/2022
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Photo submitted by afmarko99 on 09/19/2020
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Photo submitted by caddyshack79 on 07/06/2020
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Photo submitted by Floyd600 on 04/08/2020
Good Experience
This course is much better than La Quinta. More challenging and better pace of play. I enjoyed my time here.
Fun at the Golf Course
My golf buddy and I enjoyed a relaxing round. Though the greens had been recently aerated the were in good condition. We found the course to be very playable and challenging. Can't wait to return!
Thank you John.We look forward to having you back for another day of fun out here at Quail Valley.
Fantastic course but bring your own water!
This is one of the nicest courses I have played but we were all very shocked by the fact that there were not coolers of cold water around the golf course. I believe there were three or four elementary school type water fountains. Not nearly enough to keep you hydrated during the hot summer and we play on the hottest days of the year. I was tempted to drink out of one of the ponds at one point in the round and we all left lightheaded.
We know summer can be a brute, so we have ice, cups and water available in the clubhouse for the start and end of the round. Also there is water on the 5th hole, ice/water at the turn-house after #9 (a little hidden - we apologize), water on #13 and #16. Also have a beverage cart that runs but can get caught up on busy days. Apologize that wasn't enough for you but hope you come back out.
Nice course with tight fairways
We had a foursome tee off saturday morning and it was each of our first times playing. There is alot of water on many holes and the fairways were in great shape. the greens were firm and rolled pretty well. The course was in great shape and we will be back
Fantastic. Thank you and we look forward to having you back.
Great course
Great place to play anytime
Thank you... come back out anytime!
Challenging but fair w/o excessive length.
Good, challenging course without being excessively long. The kind of course you could play every day and not get bored. A few greens were a little rough. Some greens were excellent. it is early in the year, though and I believe they will improve. I definitely plan to put it on my playing schedule regularly. Recently renovated clubhouse is very nice. Very accessible, I live in Galleria area and found the drive time very reasonable.
The Bluenonnet Grille inside or out on the patio is awesome before or after your round. Hope you got to soak that in a little. We hope to get all the greens rolling for you even better next time you come out from in town. Thank you.
Quail Valley Golf El Dorado course
Nice Course. Good value. Unfortunately can get pretty busy on weekend so expect a 5 hrs round.
The eternal struggle in the city of millions of weekend warriors. Thank you for coming out. Hope we hlped you to have a good time out here.
Bang for your Buck!
What a great course! I was a bit leary when I booked only because of the price offered, but after reading a few reviews from other GolfNow players I decided to give it a try.....and I'm glad I did!! This was a really fun course. Several of the fairways are a little narrow -- control of your drives off the tee box is a plus on those holes...that said, some of the others were pretty forgiving.. I played El Dorado and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a single and thus the pace was good...I came up on a couple of groups but they let me play right through so I could keep my rhythm going. Another review had commented that yardage to water crossing etc on the card would have helped -- I agree...either marked on the card or some signage at the tee box would have been nice, but it's not a deal breaker. Last but not least -- The staff was great! I was coming in from Dallas on business and American Airlines somehow managed to "misplace" my clubs for a few hours....I knew due to the delay in getting my clubs I was going to miss my scheduled tee-time but when I called the pro-shop they were extremely understanding of the situation and given they had much of the afternoon open told me just to show up when I could and they would get me on! They did and I'll be back to play again on another business trip! Thanks Quail Valley!
Glad to hear someone likes the varying holes that range from tougher to easier. We'll look into marking better yardage for position shots. Thank you!
Great Time on the Links
Over it was a great round for early Feb, course was a little dry which is expected for the time of year but was still in good space.
That's awesome that you had a great time here. It's our goal to make this a fun place for all kinds of golfers and guests. See you soon again.
Great for the price
Played twice and enjoyed both times.
One good turn or swing deserves another. Thank you for playing Quail Valley. Have you played both courses?
Thoroughly enjoyed!
Played the other course several times but this one is even more nice! Will be back!
Glad you enjoyed the course! We'll do our best to make it 'more nicer' next time you're here. Come back soon and let's have some fun.
Great layout
This course had a great layout if you could forget in was in the middle of a housing edition. Condition of course was poor at best. I realize it was February but we have not had that bad a winter. Was definitely not worth 40 dollar green fee on a Monday that was a senior rate 50' s otherwise. Course would be great if conditioning were better.
good course.
I enjoy playing at this course because it is very challenging. plenty of sand traps and unexpected water not showing on the score card.
Thank you for coming out to Quail Valley. What water hazard surprised you? This is the first time we've heard this but will do what we need to in order to correct this.
Enjoyable layout... Nice greens .
Love the layout and the speed of the greens.
Thank you George. Hope you come back and loop it around La Quinta if you haven't already. It's a classic layout with elevated greens and some unique features.
First time
First experience at El Dorado. There was some minor confusion with Pro Shop about GolfNow tee time, but it was quickly sorted out after calling GolfNow help desk. Starter and inside staff were all very friendly. There were a number of groups on the course today, all very friendly and let others play through when slow. Cart service >5 times in my 3 hour round.
Course layout is moderately challenging, mostly due to narrow landing areas on fairways. Especially enjoyed some of the forced layups, particularly #17 -- very fun hole. Minimal forced carries. Rough was a little thin (Winter conditions), fairways were in excellent shape for this time of year. Greens were above-average size, well protected, rolled 9-10, smooth, ball rolled straight. I did not notice the weeds on the greens to which other reviewers referred. One of the greens had ~15sq ft sandy under repair, but not significant on the large green. Holes cut very crisply, no lip-ins allowed. Plenty of bathrooms and water fountains.
El Dorado is by no means a PGA-tour quality course as the GolfNow description attests (i.e. GCOH), but is well above what is expected from an average public course. Layout comparable to Cinco Ranch but green speed and roll superior. All aspects better than nearby Pearland golf courses. Added to my list of courses to play again.
Recommendations for improvement: in dire need of proper range balls. Posting distances to water/hazard on forced lay-ups would be very helpful.
Thank you for the detail Pickelt11. Our grounds crew and Super have had their work cut out for them this year. Regarding the possibility of hosting a pro event, we believe that with the extra rest and care that comes with a PGA/LPGA event, that El Dorado could be a true test for pros with the rough up and the fairways a little narrower.
Great Course
This course is a bit narrow in some parts, but overall is both challenging and fun to play.
Thank you for coming out Eric. Happy Holidays.
Good Value Course
Course has good layout with many link style holes. There has been a lot of rain over past week so course had a few rough spots but overall in good condition.
Thank you for coming out and the positive review. It's been an up and down year with the weather and we've worked hard to fared it pretty well.
Great Course
I love this course. It is actually my home course. I got a great deal on Golf Now as this course is usually expensive to play. They have made a lot of improvements to this course. It plays very well. Can't wait to play again.
If you have to play...
range is absolute trash, course itself was over watered in some spots and desert dry in others. Definitely not a $50 course. It's worth $30 max.
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Glad you enjoyed yourself here. I'll goal is to help everyone have fun. Regarding the 2 courses, we'd like to think that they are just different. People tend to love one or other for different reasons. Being an 'old scholl' course, La Quinta is more forgiving off the tee but with tougher, elevated greens while El Dorado is a modern, rolling golf course that can be visually intimidating. Either way, hope you come back again. Thank you.