La Mirada Regional Park - Lake 18

Played both 18 hole courses over the weekend with some friends and remember why I always like La Mirada. There is every kind of challenge on this course and even some water thrown in. I live 90 minutes away and don't mind the drive to play one of the best of the best. Whoohoo!

I'm originally from washington state, and there are good disc golf courses everywhere up there, so I was a little disappointed when I saw a couple of the courses around where I live(San Dimas). I played the closest course(Azusa) and it was only 9 holes with almost no obstacles and all the holes were very short. I heard some not so good things about Whittier-narrows so I skipped that one, the course in chino costs money, and the one in rancho is only 7 holes and is also very short. The next course on the list was this one, so I checked out the description and it looked good so I decided to drive the 20 miles to check it out.

Needless to say it was definitely worth the drive. This is one of the best courses I've played and I love that there are 36 holes. I've played more difficult courses, but I'd say there is a good balance of difficulty for all levels of players including trees, water, distance, and changes in elevation. I played the course for over four hours and had a blast.

There were a lot of other people playing so you might have to wait depending on the other players, but I'd still say the only con is the amount of people using the park that aren't playing DG. Lots of kids running around and people laying on blankets that aren't always easy to see depending on the hole you are playing. Be careful and share the space!

# of holes: 5/5
difficulty: 3/5
scenery: 4/5
variety: 4/5
overall: 4/5

I'll definitely be coming back!

Pros:
36 holes, very cool to have so much variety
Nice parkland setting, good footing
Hilly enough for some up and down challenges
Cons:
Back 9 of second 18 very technical with lots of mandys and OB - seems a little forced in the parking lot holes
Does not use the trees as effectively as might be to shape the holes

Notes:
Foot traffic can be busy weekends on holes 1 and 18 of front 18. Great course overall though.

Lots of elevation changes, which was tricky but good.

If you're in a rush, I'd recommend parking at the community center and just starting on the 15th tee.

La Mirada is an amazing course. I would say it is the best "city" course I ever played. Hole 1 for both 18 starts right by the bathrooms, pro shop and practice baskets. The course meanders through rolling grass hills, with water and tree obstacles. Plenty of elevation change, long and short holes, with every hole having multiple pin positions and nice cement pads. EVERYTHING you do is in public view.

I gave this course a 3 because the front 18 baskets were all out of whack, switching from Innova Discatcher to Mach 3, some of them pretty beat up, with almost every number wrong. Also, the day I played, 26JAN10, on the back 18, holes 11 - 15 were closed with no baskets. This course should be a solid 5, but until they get the basket mess figured out it's a 3.

Stopped by here with a few buddies and played a solid 4 hours.
Pro: One of the best organized courses I have been on. There is little maps at each tee to show you location of chains. Plenty of challenging drives, and short game play. Full of tree, hill, and even water obstacles. Food locations are pretty close by and are cheap.
Con:Crappy location, driving in the traffic sucked. This place gets pretty busy with foot traffic (e.g., other golfers, kids running around like Lord of the flies). During the winter or fall there is a lot of foliage on the ground, if you don't have a bright disc you are bummed.