Pros:
Cliff Stephens Park is a really nice natural setting in the middle of a bustling area. With all of the road construction in the area, it was a little difficult to find, but totally worth the effort. Couldn't even really hear that much outside noise from the park grounds.
I really liked the way the designer integrated the water into the course. Sometimes it seems like a course has a body of water to work with and they use it the same way over and over...typically playing with water on the right side of the fairway. Cliff Stephens had that, but it also had water on the left, a couple of clearing shots and a peninsula hole. Really well done, and kudos to the designer.
I thought the "white" tees offered a good mix of distance differential. Some holes were under 300, but some were over 600. Plenty of 400-500 foot holes mixed in as well. Very well done. I enjoy multi-shot holes and this course had plenty of those. Drive-Putt or Drive-Approach-Putt can get really old. While it is a mostly open course, you really do have to consider your plan of attack on most of these holes.
Climo...it's cool to say that I played his "home course".
Cons:
Navigation can be a little tricky for someone from out of town. Had to play the course out of order as it was, but I had trouble when I couldn't see other groups to gauge where they were going. I ended up tagging along with a guy, who led me to believe he was a local, but then after we got lost twice admitted he had only played there once before and he was actually from Minnesota. Maybe the first person I've ever run into on a course with multiple personalities. Guy also said he knew Ken Climo. Maybe he did...but I doubt it.
Other than navigation, the course was pretty good. Some of the baskets looked a little rough, but nothing atrocious.
Also, I did not see any alligators, but have heard there may be some around there.
Other Thoughts:
Maybe I just caught them on a bad day, but the locals were not very friendly. They were about to start a weekly event, so I thought I would just tag along and play the weekly event. Evidently it was a "closed event" and "members only"...for an afternoon weekly...hmmm. Anyway, there were about 30 of them and one of me, so I just decided to simply play the course alone. Met up with the guy mentioned above on Hole 10. I guess I figured that since this was just a weekly, and that I was from hundreds of miles away, that these guys would allow me to play without too much trouble. Nope. Ended up playing the front-9 in this order: 1-2-7-8-3-4-5-6-9. When I got to the 9th hole, I waited on the tee for one group to throw. After they holed out, I parked the tee shot, dropped in for my deuce and sprinted to Hole 10 while they were taking a break. I tried not to let this affect my rating of the course, and I think I have minimized it as best I can. Unfortunately my only memories of this course are rushing around trying to play every hole while being looked at like a leper and feeling unwelcome.
The park is connected to a system of trails, and near one of the holes on the back-9, away from the majority of the course, a kid around (16) rides up on a bike. He asks me and the guy I was with if we want to "buy any discs". The way he said "discs" was very strange, and I have a feeling he didn't have any plastic in his backpack. We both declined. Then the guy with me proceeded to tell me how the same kid asks him if he wants to buy "discs" every time he plays there...which I later found out to be only once before. Guy seemed oblivious and harmless enough, so I didn't tell him what I thought.
Back to the course, Cliff Stephens is a cool course. There is plenty of variety here to keep you intrigued. If water is not your thing, then go somewhere else. There's a lot of it here. My personal favorite hole is #17 which plays out onto the peninsula. Beautiful hole and very difficult when windy. I was lucky enough to deuce it. Doubt I could do it again, but I just happened to hit a long putt. This left me with a good feeling over the final holes and made me feel a little better when leaving the course.
Course is definitely not designed for beginners.
If you are in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, this would be the course I recommend the most. My only suggestion is that you try and play it in the morning when there is probably less traffic and no conflict with others. This is definitely an excellent course.