In early May my wife and I traveled to California and had the pleasure of golfing at Pacific Grove, Pasatiempo, San Juan Oaks, Monarch Dunes, Sandpiper, Oak Quarry, Desert Willow-Firecliff, and LaQuinta Mountain.
Desert Willow: Firecliff was the 7th course played on our trip. The course opened in 1997 and was designed by Hurdzan-Fry with input from PGA golfer John Cook.
Yardages are 5,079/5,642/6,173/6,676/7,056. All yardages posted here are from the 7,056 tees.
On to the course ...
Opening tee shot, 535 yard par-5
Fairway on first hole
Hole #2, par-4 410 yards
2nd fairway
Par-3 3rd hole, 194 yards
#4, par-4 446 yards
Tee shot on hole #5, 429 yards par-4
Side view of the 5th green
Tee shot on #6, short par-4 of 331 yards doglegging to the right
Approach on #6 to peninsula green
Looking back on hole 6
Tee shot on #7, par-5 of 569 yards
Par-3 8th hole, 155 yards
Tee shot on hole 9, 455 yards par-4
From right edge of 9th fairway
Middle of 9th fairway
Looks like this guy had a rough night, bloodshot eyes...
Clubhouse overlooking the 9th and 18th greens
Overall, my wife and I thought this course fit somewhere in the middle of the 8 played on our trip. It was in excellent condition, albeit played on a scorching hot day, 41 degrees Celsius. With 100 bunkers on the course, not to mention the ever-present desert sands, it got to the point where there just didn't seem to be a whole lot of strategy involved, especially off the tee. Hit it down the middle became the norm, at least in theory. Reality was another concept!
Anyway, the back 9 will follow in a day or two.
Cheers,
Jim