Played this course once when I visited. This was the only course I actually felt like I needed my gun on me it was so unsafe
I'm going to put my background in a bit of a perspective. I'm a white guy from Northern Iowa originally. In my high school of three classes (Freshman were still in 'Jr. High') there were over 1100 students. My graduation class was 409. The whole school had less than 10 minorities. Less than 1%. Just a bit of background from the world view I grew up in.
Cliff Drive in Kansas City is an absolute blast of a course. It's a Jeckyll and Hyde course starting off in tough woods and finishing in wide open super long bomber holes. The neighborhood has it's really cool ethnic vibes. I was told by a local golfer that lives in the neighborhood that there are over 28 distinct ethnicities at the local high school. On Independence Blvd, the closest main strip, there are a ton of awesome hole in the wall restaurants from all over the world. Any given Saturday you can see people in the park learning how to drive who are clearly first generation immigrants. One time I saw, what I think was a Somali women, harvesting berries very close to where this horse was found. I think those things are super cool myself from a perspective of appreciating people that are different then me. It's also the only place I've been able to find wild paw paws which was super exciting. They are yummy.
Cliff Drive is sketchy no doubt. I've witnessed two completely burnt out automobiles, presumably covering up crime scenes. I've witnessed a man getting a BJ right in the parking area 9am on a Sat. morning. I've heard of a story where a prostitute's dead body was recovered once. Not sure if that was true, but I tend to believe it. Unfortunately, the local DG club fights, constantly, on illegal trash dumping, but I think improvements have been made.
My personal craziest story though - I was playing with 3-4 guys on a cool Saturday morning about 10:30. It was in the mid-40's; we're all wearing jackets for sure. After the 2nd or 3rd hole in the woods, this guy wearing nothing but jeans - no shirt, no shoes, nothing - starts following us OBVIOUSLY tweaking big time. Shaking uncontrollably, twitching, picking up random stuff and starring at them too long. He follows us 40' back for several holes. We ask him if he needs help - nope. Eventually he walks off. First and only time I've experienced a tweaker. First and only time at Cliff where I felt noticeably uneasy.
Again - first and only time at Cliff where I felt uneasy, and this coming from a guy that grew up in a very protected community.
My advice about Cliff? Only play during the day. Playing with friends is better than playing alone, although I have much more solo rounds at Cliff then not. Finally, mind your own business while there. Don't draw attention to yourself, don't become interested in things that don't involve you. Obviously if you see somebody in trouble, either help or call the police, but I've never needed to do that. If you are in Kansas City, play Cliff Drive. Just my advice.
The one course where I was more scared then I have ever been at Cliff or any other course? This one:
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=5764
