Pros:
Cliff Stephens is challenging and fair, with a variety of different carries across and around water and trees. In terms of the layout, it's a 3.5-4.0 quality course, with good signage in most places. It's a pretty course to play in, with lots of broad-branched live-oaks and spanish moss, as you'd expect in Florida, and they are woven into the layout in creative ways. Although parking is extremely limited near hole #1, it's easy to find. Another "pro," which could be awarded to any course in Florida, is that it's playable in warm weather year 'round. The only times I've played it have been in late December. During the first trip, the weather was unusually cold, according to the locals, but 50-something fahrenheit was nothing I could complain about in late December. Last December, weather was balmy, in the 70s.
Cons:
There are a few significant problems with this course which lead me to bring my personal rating down a notch or two from what the quality of the layout and course conditions would normally merit. First, there are several holes that play across or right next to walking paths, and in one case, a public road. The hole right next to the road is the most problematic, with an enticing hyzer line directly out over automobile traffic as the best high-percentage shot. Even attempts to run the narrower gap between the trees, to avoid the line over the road, can be kicked out by tree-hate into the road. It would be a good hole if the road weren't there, but as it is it causes problems, in my humble opinion. The fairways that run along the walking paths are less problematic, in my experience, because there haven't been many people on the walking paths when I've played. I don't know if that's more of a problem at other times of the year or not.
The other significant problem with the course, which I believe could easily be corrected, is the confusing set of extra holes, I think named A-C, that have been sort of inserted between #16 and #17. It's difficult at best to find these extra holes on your own, but even the locals that I asked for directions seemed to lead me astray. When I was there playing, I got conflicting information about whether the "peninsula" hole just after #16, a long par 4 carry across/around water, was playable or not, and I saw more than one group of locals sitting around on the peninsula, hanging out near the basket, rather than playing that hole. Descriptions of hole #16 that I've read mention the peninsula as a possible landing zone towards the #16 basket. Hole A is a crazy-tight tunnel shot with terrible shule to the right, and an allegedly gator-populated canal to the left. The entire fairway is about 7' wide, to my memory, with walls of trees and shule packed close on both sides. This is what I'd consider the worst kind of poke-and-pray "grinder" tunnel, and does not match the quality of the rest of the course. Hole "B" is farther into the woods, parallel to this grinder tunnel, but also seems out of place on the course. Rumors of Hole "C", and maybe other extra holes, seemed to be no more than rumors, because I couldn't find them, unless maybe "C" is the supposed to be the peninsula hole. My second time around the course this past December, I gave up on the lettered holes, and moved straight from #16 to #17, which is what I'd recommend for others. I think the layout could really benefit from the removal of these extra holes, perhaps to replace them with something better. At the very least, the signage, course condition notes, and everything else about these extra holes should be corrected to match the reality on the ground. A few "next hole" arrows would also be welcome in places on the back 9.
Other Thoughts:
There are a couple of World Champions who have been known to play here regularly, and I'd be interested to see them rate the course -- especially Paul McBeth, who is a DCGR member. My rating as a player, if I were a PDGA member, would hover somewhere around 900, and I'd normally choose to play "Intermediate" in sanctioned tournaments.