Played with the GK group on 12/9. My first time at Firecliff. Greens were moderately fast with significant slopes. Greenskeeper maybe woke up on the wrong side of the bed because several of the pins, especially on the front nine, were unreal. Like on the downslope of a knoll, so there was no way at all to get close from above the hole. Learned to play short of the hole to avoid that.

Fairways were overseeded and grabby. No roll out on drives, so many long approaches.

Challenging course, but also beautiful and in good shape.

Haven't played since the COVID era began, so thought I would give La Mirada a try a couple of weeks ago. It's cheap and nearby. Walked as a single with a threesome who spoke another language among themselves, but were polite, and we ended up finding each other's balls more than once. The conditions in the late morning were quite hot and smoky with ash from the fires to our north falling.
Tip one: their ball machine does not accept other LA County course payment keys, no matter what the pro shop tells you. Figuring that out and getting a ($7!) small bucket ate up most of my allotted warmup time.
The course was in poor shape, unfortunately. The greens were in the best shape, very soft and slow on the front, but surprisingly faster on the back. Moderately smooth.
The fairways were in fair shape, with mostly good lies. The rough was in very poor shape. Bare dirt and crabgrass clumps in many places. This may be because of the doubling of the cart traffic (one per person in COVID). It's also because of the type of players who played behind us, who would zoom their carts round and round the trees looking for their lost balls on every hole. Round and round the greens too, for that matter (what cart paths?). I'm sure that makes good maintenance of the course impossible.
Tees were overgrown. It was very hard to tee the ball up high, because the grass extended an inch above where your tee will stick.
Traps were not sand bunkers. More like packed dirt depressions. You should chip it out, because a normal bunker explosion shot was impossible. For me it was, at least.
The short course and the soft greens made the course fairly easy, but the poor conditions in the rough made it challenging if you hit it there.
POP was fine. We finished in less than 4.5 hr. A single in front, so we never had to wait.
It was cheap, I got basically what I paid for.

Played 8/19 pm. Good layout with some risk/reward (goofy) holes. Greens firm and in good shape. Bunkers have some pebbles. Fairways in good shape. Tee boxes not always level. Small annoyance due to houses being constructed along most fairways. The real problem is the aprons around the greens, which are atrocious. GUR everywhere, just dirt and dead grass. Can't putt through them and if your ball hits 2 yds short of the green, it will not bounce on. The aprons are more "receptive" than the greens. Good service, great price. Fix the aprons, and this course will be nearly as good as the Legends. Be prepared for a slow round, as the "risk/reward" gives some people delusions that they are Tiger, and they will wait for the 310 yd par 4 green to clear before driving the ball 50 yds short of it.

Played 8/19 am. Love this course, great routing and fair layout. Greens had a little sand, so were a bit slow while damp in the am, but so was the practice green. Only other complaint was the thin sand in one of the bunkers, with a hard clay floor lurking underneath. Makes for a disasterous blast attempt. Good service, great discount rate through August. Give it a 9 overall.

Played 8/14 am. There's a good reason Golf Mag just listed this course in the Top 100 you can play (42). It really is a gorgeous test of golfing ability. Fairways were immaculate, few divots, greens were smooth and true (and fortunately not lightning fast). Pins were set up so any ball within 10-12 ft of the hole left a relatively flat putt, but if you don't get it close, it's another story. Large tiers and drastic slopes make it tough. Tee boxes looked like fairway (or muni greens). Beautiful setting. Be sure and get a yardage guide, and play the appropriate tees for your ability, or you WILL be sorry. If you have a group, join Del Monte's Duke's Club to get discounted rates here and at Spyglass.

Played last week, first time. Good news is this design is fantastic, truly interesting with enough tee boxes for everyone. Don't play it from the wrong tees! Bad news is course condition is not what I'd expected from the ratings here. Greens were smooth, except for the hundreds of ball marks, more than I've ever seen. Fixed 2-3/hole, but like bailing the ocean with a teaspoon. Fairways were often thin/bare, but still soft. Not the "carpet" style I like. Holiday rates of $95 make me expect better. Pace of play was good, 4.5 hr.

Played last week. Course is in good shape, not fabulous. Greens were a little long, bumpy in areas, but still pretty fast. Fairways had a few thin spots. Holiday rates meant no bargain, but probably worth it. Good design, good pace of play (4:10).

First time playing this course since I moved to town a few months ago. Got out on 11/25 am. Greens are surprisingly fast for a muni, even when damp from the dew/fog. When things dried out on the back nine, they were even faster. Fairways were in fair to good shape, with a few overly wet spots, real drive killers. Overall, in very good shape, under 5 hrs on a holiday with plenty of fivesomes. Well worth the green fees.

Played 9/5. First time I played this course. From the whites, it's a short course, a little quirky. No rough at all on the course, which makes errant shots scamper for the hazards. Fairways are of the "tight" variety, but soft enough to take a smooth swing and divot. They had the pins set up for "tournament" difficulty, most within 12 ft of the edge of the green, behind the sand, on the steepest slope on the green, etc. In good shape, with only a few dried out or dead areas, and even these didn't affect play. Only complaint: they use the silly "front/middle/back" pin placement guides. This can be deceptive when your "middle" placement is on the extreme edge of a green you cant see (uphill approach). Would be better to have pin placements that show region of the green, not horizontal strips. GPS already gives you distance to pin. Would play again, 4:45 round.

Played this course for the first time 8-12 as a walk-on. Course is well-designed and has beautiful views. In very good shape. No yardage book, and difficult to find a marked sprinkler. Print out e-yardage before you go. Only one complaint, #13 tee markers were aimed 30 deg left of the fairway. Normally, I can ignore that, but not with the Pacific Ocean on my right. After backing off the ball 3 times to realign, I still lined up left and lost a ball in the heavy trees. Otherwise, a nice round if a little slow at 5 hr. Worth the $$$.

Played this course for the first time 8-10 as a walk-up single. Got put out on the back 9, which was OK. Strange quirk about this course, the hardest holes on both 9s are the first ones. Condition was overall pretty good, course is well designed. No yardage book, print out e-yardage before you go. Biggest disappointment was workers mowing/aerating the fairways who wouldn't move for the golfers. It's very distracting to me to try to not hit moving targets, and it would really hack me off if I did hit one of them. Also, they might have mentioned the aeration at check-in. Good value in general. Walked the course in just under 4:00.

Played here for the first time 8-8 afternoon. For the price, you can't beat this course with a stick. Friendly pro shop and marshalls. Only complaint about the service was no yardage book available. Print out e-yardage before you go. Course is a very tough design, don't play from the back unless you're single digit and can whack it a long ways. Course was in good shape, a little rough around the edges (where I sometimes end up). I didn't like the half-dirt and crusty traps, but they weren't crusty enough to keep my ball from completely embedding in the sheer vertical face of a large bunker on the back 9. Sand plays heavy. Greens were smooth and soft. Fairway lies were pristine. If it wasn't so far from me, I would play here a lot.