Eagle Lake Recreation Center Review

Texas Outside Rating: 7.4

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 35
Eagle Lake
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Eagle Lake Recreation Center Review

Review and Rating of Eagle Lake Recreation Center Golf Course in Eagle Lake, Texas

It's not often that we get to play a 9 hole golf course for a $10 green fee and a $10 cart fee, but that's the case for a round of golf at Eagle Lake Recreation Center.  Not only is Eagle Lake inexpensive but it's also fun and has some very challenging holes.   A meandering creek comes into play on several holes, huge sprawling trees in the middle of a couple of the fairways, and small greens all put a premium on shot-making.

Eagle Lake is a par 35 (6 par 4's, 2 par 3's and 1 par 5).  There are three sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 2358 yards to 2938 yards.  Some of the holes that we liked included:

  1. #1 is a 346-yard par 4 with trees in front of the tee box that you need to fly or thread a narrow slot to hit the fairway, a tree in the middle of the fairway at 100 yards in front of the green that can block your shot to the green, a small creek that crosses the fairway, and a small contoured slightly raised green
  2. #3 is 295-yard par 4 with two sprawling trees that block your approach shot to the green (you need to fly them or head way left) and that's followed by a creek that crosses the fairway

The greens at Eagle Lake are very small, slightly raised,  and hard to hold.  They were rolling slow (around a 7.5) and have enough contour to force you to study them carefully before putting.  They were in average to pretty good condition.

The fairways are tree-lined with no homes and a creek that comes into play on several holes.  Most of the fairways are ample to a little tight.  The fairways are flat and dry and in pretty rough condition with a mixture of grass, weeds, and dirt. 

There are no bunkers to worry about!

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 2,938
Blue 2,358
Gold 2,825

Course Information

Greens Condition
8.0
Greens Difficulty
8.0
Fairway Condition
6.5
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Beware of water on 8 holes and the 0 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
7.4 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
8.2
Variety:
6.0
Fun to Play:
8.0
Value:
8.0
Condition:
6.5
Front Nine Rating:
7.4
Back Nine Rating:
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $20.00 to $20.00

Service is country friendly, facilities are dated, and golf supplies are very limited. Cold drinks and crackers are available.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.