Pros:
A nice park that has brand spanking new gear. Decked out with great signs including a course map, and each hole has an illustrative map showing OB (there is quite a bit) and distance. Bag hanger on every post is nice. The baskets are sweet with blue tops and red buckets. fresh concrete tees are very roomy. Practice basket near the parking lot.
The park is divided by roads, walking trails and a small culvert that frequently mark OB. All grass with enough mature trees to make it fun. Gentle slopes for added elevation flavor. The layout isn't too crazy, but snap a pic of the map. Par is 56, with 4's on 10 and 15. Shot shaping and distances vary, but the lines are not super constrictive. Good course for the novice to intermediate level player.
Favorite holes? 2 is a nice par 3 that is longish with a low line funneling between a few nice trees to a pin on a slippery hillside. 5 is 350' with trees lining the left and the shallow concrete ravine behind them. The pin is on a bit of a slope there to with the ravine edging the circle at the bottom on the left side. The trusty corvette got me pin high, but it slid down the hill into the ditch sadly. Would be a penalty in a tourney round I'm pretty sure. 13 is cool, kinda downhill and a couple of trees in front of the basket. The road curves behind it and there is a ridge that drops off right before you get to it, so the OB is just a short skip and a jump away. 16 plays slightly uphill between a bed of flowers and bushes with a Utility Arboretum sign/butterfly sculpture on the right and a few trees sprinkled to the left. Path lurking on the right is OB obviously.
Cons:
The holes have a consistent quality, but there aren't any that stand out as the signature, really memorable holes. The layout crosses streets on the front 9 a couple of times, so pay attention to the map. Specifically after hole 2. There is a bit of a walk from 7 to 8, and the stretch from 10-13 zig zags a enough to cause a slight mix up.
Other Thoughts:
I drove to Joplin from KC to hit McClelleand really, but upon arrival the packed parking lot clearly signified a big tournament going on. A quick convo with a player waiting to tee tipped off the recently finished course at Landreth, so I set out on the short drive across town. The overcast layer of low clouds was fighting to keep from being fog, but otherwise is was a nice morning. The dew dampened my socks but not my spirits.
I was fairly pleased with what I found. Not a destination by any means, but it's a nice course that is pretty fun. In combination with many other area courses, definitely good reason to day trip or spend a weekend maybe.
I didn't notice there was so much OB on the course until hole 10, but the signs define it very clearly. I put 1 down on the scorecard, but realistically I would have been at least 2 or 3 up. Put my drive on 5 in the culvert, and hit the road with tee shots on 10 (way OB) and 13. I did have birdies on 3 and 4, and missed about 4 other birdie putts.