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El Dorado at Quail Valley Golf Course
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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 |
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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
Very nice in SW houston
All good. Nice course in good shape. Only areas of recommended improvement are the driving range, which is small and overused so probably need mats. Secondly, quite a few of the sand traps appear to have some drainage issues. Although not holding water, indications of mud vs sand. This could also be due to recent heavy rain.
Pretty good
Sand was packed from rain. Good layout. Greens were slow and had some rough patches
Thank you. The heavy rains this year have been tough again but we'll keep at it.
Great to have you for a first visit. Hope to have you back and make it 5 stars. Thank you.
Very nice course very tight and the food was great after the round
Many thanks and glad you were able to enjoy The Bluebonnet Grille afterward.
Thank you Cory!
Vary satisfied with the experience
I got hot deal at El Dorado at Quail Valley Golf Course. Nice course and perfect weather. Very satisfied with the golf outing through Golfnow.
Boom! Five stars! Thank you and hope to have you back.
Slowest Play I ever encountered
After such slow groups in front of us, without being able to play through, and over four [4] hours, to hole #13, our group of 3 decided to go around the group in front of us, and just not play that hole. The Marshal had already been by twice, but no help. There was a complete empty hole between that foursome and the next. But looking ahead of the next foursome, we found that every hole was very backed up, with as many as 8 carts at some of the tee box areas. We had no choice but to just head in, as it might have taken us 6 or 7 hours to complete our round. We passed the Marshal again on the way in. When I asked about the slow play, he indicated that it was likely due to all the groups of 5 playing. Nobody we spoke to was happy with the situation. Ridiculous ! !
We apologize for the slow play on such a beautiful weather weekend. Everyone and their extended family came out! We hope the staff in the golf shop made it right. If not, please call the facility and ask for management. Otherwise, we hope to have yo back out again. The courses are in excellent shape.
Bob
Our round of golf started with a sarcastically friendly Starter named Bob. He was able to get us out on the course a little before our tee time and explained the history of the two courses as well as some other information that was helpful latter in our round.
The greens were in great shape and fast. I love putting on TRUE greens and El Dorado had them.
Over all I give this corse 5 stars. From the first tee to the great Cobb salad after my round everything about Quail Vally was "Top Notch".
Thank you very much, and we're thrilled you appreciated the personality our staff brings to the experience.
I don't play often
I don't play golf often but I have played a few courses. This course was beautiful. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and the staff was friendly. Definitely will be coming back
Thank you very much and we hope to have you back more often!
Good Course, Horrible Scheduling
The course was in alright condition. Greens were hard and rough around the edges. Fairways about normal. The layout is challenging with lots of water and a good amount of sand.
My group and I got booked right before a tournament and were rushed and nagged the entire time by marshalls and players. We came to find out that the tournament was rushing because another tournament was scheduled to play immediately after the first one! We finished our round well under 4 hours, forced to play hurry up golf. But we couldn't relax or enjoy ourselves due to the constant nagging of staff and "regulars". I would not recommend this course. At the very least make sure you're not playing before any tournaments...
We apologize that our staff and other golfers made you feel rushed. Not sure why you were slotted between two events on a busy weekend, but if you have time, please call us. We'd like the opportunity to make it right. Our goal is to help everyone have fun and enjoy themselves here.
Challenging and fun course
First time on this course. Although it rained earlier in the week, the course was mostly dry. It started out cart path only, but as conditions allowed for 90 rule, the marshalls drove around and informed us we could drive off cart path. Tee boxes were a bit small, but everything else was in real good condition. A LOT of water, traps, and trees.... but fun
Glad to have you all the way from Florida! Thank you and hope to have you back.
Five stars... thank you Janet!
Avoid on Friday's!
I visited Quail Valley to play the El Dorado course in preparation for a golf tournament on Sat. My tee time was 12:32 and what I learned (after booking) was that they have a men's group that tees of at noon on Friday's. The problem is that they play in 5soms! This was a big mistake because it was so slow that I was only able to play 4 holes before I gave up. Those 4 holes took almost 1.5 hours. My advice: Avoid this course on Fridays unless you are going to play before noon!
We apologize for the delay last Friday. With the Houston Open going on, the nice weather and an event that afternoon, we had a full house. We do allow fivesomes but work to make sure play moves along. We should have provided you with a return check and hope you make it back from San Antonio. If not, please contact us and we'll help you out.
The long wait!
Nice people, nice course but they let 5 somes on the course and do not control the pace of play. We walked away after nine holes - we were at the 2:30 mark on the tee box at #9!!! Extremely frustrating!
Hi Reubun. We apologize for the slower play. We had an extremely full weekend due to a number of circumstances. Our staff should have provided you with a return check for 9 holes. If not, please contact us.
Tuesday Golf
Golf course was in good condition. Fun outing during the week.
Solid. Thank you!
Thank you. Our goal is to help everyone have fun here.
Thank you. We're working on going from good to great this Spring.
Thank you... hope to have you back another time soon.
Really enjoyed it!
Had a great time playing this course yesterday afternoon. The course was in great conditions and the staff were friendly. I would definitely recommend to anyone.
Many thanks and please come out again... give La Quinta a shot too.
First Time Here
It was my first time on El Dorado. I would recommend it to any golfer wanting a somewhat challenging course. It does have water and lots of sand, both fairway and greenside. I believe it was the site of the 1973 Houston Open.
Thank you... and indeed Quail Valley hosted the Houston Open for a couple years. The routing back then including 9 holes from the La Quinta golf course and 9 holes from the El Dorado golf course.
Thank you for the compliments and we apologize you missed the bathrooms/water-fountains on holes 5, 10, 13, 16. Hope to have you back in a less stressful weather season.
It was my first time there and here were my first impressions:
Goods:
-Very very friendly staff. They were so nice in particular the front desk and the drink cart lady.
-The back 9 was in good condition and had well designed holes.
Bad:
-I don't recall if it just rained or not, but the front 9 was terrible. The condition was so bad (i.e. I couldnt tell the fairway from the rough, the greens had so many ball marks and a couple had fungus growing on them, etc). The scenery felt like I was going through a swamp and there was nothing pleasant to look at.
-There were not water coolers, except one at the turn. I just moved back to Houston, but I was fortunate to play a lot of courses here and this course was the very first one with only one water cooler. I cant even imagine trying to play in Houston heat without water, but I will that to business strategy to get people to buy more drinks from the cart.
Overall, it was a decent experience, but the front 9 is was really affected this rating.
We'd like to earn another 1-2 stars. Any additional feedback is appreciated. Hope to have you back.
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa Stay & Play Package
Appreciate the feedback. We are actually getting ready to do some significant work on the range, so we hope to have you back to earn that 5th star. Thank you.