Pros:
Has Discatchers in great shape, descriptive, accurate tee signs at all tees, benches, and a mixture of concrete and astroturf over gravel tees (the former mostly on the holes not located in the woods). Two baskets on many holes, though not all.
This course makes excellent use of elevation, playing up, down, and along a substantial ridge line in the woods. While only two holes are sharply uphill, there are several in a row that just play that much harder because of the elevation gain before they give way to a few left/right slanted holes and then 16, one of the most deceptively downhill holes I've played. All of the fairways in the woods are well defined and well kept. All of the greens are open enough to be reasonably able to putt from a good shot, though many are still quite interesting/hairy - ditches, slopes, water, etc.
Cons:
Compared to the remainder of the course, the first few holes felt a touch underwhelming. Hole 1 is a literal driving range, distance markers and all, hole 2 is an interesting uphill over rough from the long tee but an open, level putter shot from the short, and hole 3 is a man-made obstacle hole with questionably effective obstacles - the fence is short enough to putt over if you misplace your drive.
A few of the tee signs have had some Sharpie edits made in order to accommodate new pin positions. The usefulness of the hole map is kind of lost in those situations, but the distances are still indicated - and I am grateful that the new/altered positions have been marked. On the holes which only have one basket but two pin positions, tee signs do not indicate which is currently in use, and the answer is not always visible from the tee.
Holes 14 and A share baskets/greens, and are potentially two or three holes apart, which raises the possibility of throwing at other players unintentionally. Given as A isn't particularly remarkable (or necessary to get to the next hole, though it may serve as a way to cut two-three holes out of the middle), I'm inclined to ignore it and only play the 21 numbered holes.
Other Thoughts:
I keep hearing people compare hole 4 to Winthrop Gold's hole 7. There is some resemblance - Clay 4 has a bamboo structure around the basket with an opening up front, but it more resembles the double mando old version of Winthrop 7 than the newer triple mando - that is, Clay's version doesn't have anything across the top. Further, there's no indication that there is, in fact, a mando, so if you miss, you can pitch through the slats and take a par, which is probably friendlier to the average player.
The philosophy on tees seems, on most holes, to have been that the two should play differently primarily in terms of length, rather than the long one adding a dogleg or a completely different line or some other feature absent from the short tees, though there are a few exceptions. While I certainly respect the ball golf philosophy, I personally favor the other approach, which brings me to the elephant in the room: is this the best course in the state, or least in central AL? I, personally, have to favor Inverness on account of more demanding woods work, especially from the long tees, and more challenging usage of elevation overall, even though Clay may have taken a few holes to greater heights.