Pros:
Klein Park offers an enjoyable challenge factor for a city park course, with tree-dotted fairways, some holes carved out of the available woods, a recurring drainage ditch water hazard, and occasional sidewalk or road OB. The distances are refreshingly ample for a park course, especially from the pro tees, where over half the holes are above 350', including a few well beyond the 400' mark. While shot shaping isn't overly tested, there are plenty of tight or tightish windows to hit, so control is important. Variation is mainly provided by the changing levels of woodedness: some holes play across open fields towards guarded pins, some have mid-fairway obstacles that steer your drive one way or another, some fairways are surrounded by woods or bordered by water, forming tight lanes. It's a nice, effective mix. The design here isn't overly novel, but it's solid, and offers some good looks. Altogether, Klein Park struck me as more challenging than your standard city park course, and well conceived given the land's limitations, if slightly packed in.
The course has nice, level concrete tees (not pictured on DGCR) and quality baskets. Signage is informative. The course seems like it's regularly mowed, owing to its centrality in the park. Bathrooms and parking are readily available. It's easy to get to from off the highway if you're just passing through.
Cons:
Klein Park has no real wow moments either in scenery or in golf: the pedestrian park environment, lack of elevation, and limited terrain conspire to make that difficult to achieve. There's a decent mix of shots here, and the woodedness certainly adds to the challenge, but overall the course is fairly straightforward, with no signature holes or memorable features. Klein Park is the kind of course that you enjoy but don't rush to return to; it doesn't really stick in your mind. The across-the-board par 3s reinforce this straightforward quality. Holes and lines are pretty one dimensional, even where a hole may allow a bit of variation off the tee.
There's a lot of potential for conflict with other park goers here. The long, narrow layout of the park doesn't provide a lot of options to separate the course from other activities. The course also routinely runs along or across the park's main walking path. With the apparent popularity of the park, you'll likely find yourself waiting out unaware pedestrians at one point or another; we did numerous times.
While the drainage ditch water hazard mixes things up a bit, it seems like a poor choice for a regularly used obstacle: the water is truly gross. It makes for a few holes that you just want to get through rather than truly play. It's arguable whether to fault the designers for maximizing what's available to them, but I didn't enjoy having to contend with such a hazard multiple times.
UPDATE: According to a local in the know, the drainage ditch was filled years after the course was put in place. So the gruesome water hazard was not part of the designers' intentions.
Other Thoughts:
Klein Park made for a fun stopover in the midst of a longer road trip. The golf is challenging enough to keep you interested, but isn't high pressure. After playing Texas greats such as Shawshank and Selah, it was a perfect, relaxing coda. I'd recommend a stop to anyone passing through the area. It's a solid park course.