in Courses

The Lakes at El Segundo – Executive

400 S. Sepulveda,
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 322-0202

9 holes (par 29)
Yardage: 1,340 yards
Hours: 6am-sunset
Green fees: weekdays $15, weekends $18

The Lakes at El Segundo is a short 9 hole executive golf course. It is located off Sepulveda Blvd and about 5 minutes south of LAX. Which makes it convenient if you have a long layover or staying at the airport. They have a full practice center here – driving range, putting green and chipping area. There is a small pro-shop and a cafeteria on site.

The course itself is 1,340 yards in length. There are two short par 4’s (around 260 yards) which make the course a par 29. The course is well designed. It occupies a relatively small area, but the holes fit well into the footprint. The holes are close together, but are cleverly designed in a way so that they run in different directions and you are not on-top of people playing other holes.

The first three holes run parallel with Sepulveda Blvd., then you head east out into the course. There are plenty of bunkers spread throughout the course. Some are challenging and in all the sand seemed to be good and not too dense. There is some water which comes into play in about 3 of the holes. Kind of surprising considering the name. I was expecting a lot more water and actual lakes. Where is reality there are just two small ponds out on the course if I correctly recall. May be The Two Ponds at El Segundo?

The holes had good variation and some nice elevation changes. I particularly liked hole 7. This was a short 103 yard par 3, where there is water in play if you hit right. Hole 9 is a 261 yard par 4 hole. For some reason there is a sign saying you can use irons only. I think it may be as a precaution in case someone launches a 300+ yard drive towards the club house.

The course was in very nice condition. The greens were large and ran fast. The grass was green and the tee boxes were also in good shape. You hit off the grass and there are no tee mats on this course which is a nice bonus.

Being close to the ocean it was nice and cool. We played early and the course was covered in early morning ocean mist as you can see in the pics below. The pace was good and the course was quiet as we played early. I have been here at 10am on a Saturday though and it has been very busy. In all cases I recommend calling in advance and booking a tee time. They sometimes close the course for a few hours at a weekend to allow kids to play and do workshops.

The ground-staff need to learn some etiquette. While playing the first hole, we had made our tee shots and were playing our second shots around the green. While doing a guy drove a cart right up to the green and started to make two holes in the green surface, presumably to move the hole. He then drove off to return five minutes later. In the meantime, my playing partner had a putt with a large hole right in his line. Not cool – they need to wait a few minutes for players to complete the hole before trying to make changes.

Despite giving it 4/5 for design and condition, I am giving El Segundo an overall score of 3.5/5. $18 seems a little high for this short course. You do not get much golf for your money. Also there is really nothing here which makes it stand out from the rest. It is just another 9 hole golf course.

Richie says.. “Nice little course, but the Marriott at Manhattan Beach is better. The two courses are only a couple of blocks apart. I was disappointed with the lack of water out there – going by the course name, I was expecting a lot more.”

Albino says… “Nothing really sets this course out from the rest. Also at $18 it is not very good value for money. You don’t get much golf for $18. Also I do not appreciate the staff cutting holes in the green when we are in the middle of playing it.”

This was cut out of the green as we were playing the hole. The staff then just took off to come back about 5 minutes later.

Hole by Hole

Hole 1 – 128 yards
Hole 2 – 112 yards
Hole 2 – green
Hole 3 – 178 yards
Hole 4 – 269 yards (par 4)
Hole 4 – 2nd shot (100 yards out)

Hole 5 – 96 yards
Hole 6 – 78 yards
Hole 7 – 103 yards
Hole 7 – green
Hole 8 – 115 yards
Hole 9 – 261 yards (par 4)
Hole 9 – 2nd shot (50 yards out)