Pros:
Diamondhead DGC's 9 holes are situated throughout a small but varied neighborhood park that offers a surprising array of obstacles and hazards: sidewalk OB, trees guarding tee, pin, and fairway, water, and sloped terrain. The layout brings each of these into play in turn, leading to a diversity of holes relative to the predominantly short distances and the park's overall limitations. There's some line shaping here, although most take the form of some kind of hyzer. Technical challenge is enhanced if you play the walking path as OB, which can lead to some narrow fairways bordered by sidewalk on one side and water on the other. I like how the designers incorporated the water as a border on both the left and the right sides of fairways, as well as a hazard behind a basket approached from uphill. The sequence of holes mixes things up, rather than focusing on a particular feature for an individual stretch.
Tees are natural, but level, well-groomed, and well-marked. Navigation is easy once you find hole 1 (at the far right end of the park if you're facing the water, at the top of the hill). Bathrooms on site are nice.
Cons:
The short hole lengths and overall cramped setting keep the course from ever feeling like anything other than what it is: a quick 9 in a small neighborhood park. Besides limiting the golf itself, this fact also introduces numerous potential conflicts with the locals. Hole 1 runs along a residential fence and tempts fate by embedding the basket in a carved-out section in the woods just beyond. I started my round by promptly throwing my new Crave into a bordering yard on what was actually a decently accurate turnover shot. Luckily a kind, if slightly flummoxed, child was there to hand it back to me; otherwise, that disc would have been gone.
Additionally, a walking path runs throughout the park and routinely crosses fairways. There's no real way for the course to avoid it on such a small patch of land. I was forced to wait for pedestrians on several occassions even though there were less than half a dozen others in the park. It was hard not to feel like I was intruding.
Despite the intermittant trees and numerous hazards mentioned above, the short hole lengths really limit the challenge this course can provide.
Other Thoughts:
Diamondhead is one of several courses in southwest Mississippi. If I were to only hit one, I'd choose Buccaneer State Park, personally. There's a full 18 there that offers a lot of variety, and a greater challenge than you'll find here or at McLeod. If for some reason you want to choose one between Diamondhead and McLeod, Diamondhead gets my vote. This is a nice small course that is fine for course bagging or if you're in the neighborhood, but doesn't have much draw beyond that.