Get inside the gates to discover Eagle Crest Golf Club in Escondido
ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Golfers wanting to play Eagle Crest Golf Club must enter a security code at the front gate of a private neighborhood. The impression that this David Rainville design is a residential course disappears quickly after the first hole, however.
Eagle Crest, which opened in 1992, winds through a wildlife preserve in the secluded San Pasqual Valley 33 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. Eight lakes, thick vegetation and natural hillsides ideal for elevated tee boxes and greens combine to form a 6,537-yard routing that plays tougher than the yardage might indicate.
Most of the prettiest holes fall downhill, like no. 9, a strong par 4 that doglegs right to a green protected by water. The par-3 holes -- nos. 5, 7 and 11 -- drop downhill as well. The tee shot on the par-5 14th hole kick starts a strong closing stretch littered with obstacles.
![The well protected 18th green sits behind the clubhouse at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Escondido, California.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57273.jpg)
![The first hole at Eagle Crest Golf Club plays as a 492-yard par 5, a reachable-in-two distance for long hitters.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57274.jpg)
![The fourth hole of Eagle Crest Golf Club doglegs left, leading to a green guarded by a front bunker.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57275.jpg)
![The 160-yard fifth hole at Eagle Crest Golf Club features a nice backdrop.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57276.jpg)
![A pond fronts the sixth green, the end of a strong par 5 at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Escondido, Calif.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57277.jpg)
![The seventh hole is the second scenic downhill par 3 on the front side at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Escondido, Calif.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57278.jpg)
![The 160-yard 11th hole continues the theme of downhill par 3s at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Escondido, Calif.](/departments/photo-galleries/images/small/57279.jpg)
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