Pros:
Haulapai Mountain Park is located right off I-40 up in the mountains in Northern Arizona. The course is situated right next to the road and the hole # 2 tee pad is visible from the road. There is a $7 day use fee. The terrain is rough and fairly hilly although most holes are on fairly flat ground. Spotters are recommended for some holes. Although distances are short (All 9 holes are under 158' from the short BLUES. 160 to 236' on the middle REDS and 173 to 333' on the long YELLOWS). The pads are natural marked with these metal colored orbs, like on a ball golf course. The tee signs are the old school plexiglass models showing the three tee pads. The baskets are new DGA models. I loved the navigational aids of having three different colored wooden blocks pointing to the next tee.
This course has personality. It isn't bland at all. # 6 is just a simple 174' steep uphil but two bad rollaways later, I carded a double bogie five. # 7 is 185' uphill and across a valley, another interesting hole and # 8 is 202' across the side of the hill with a tiny gap. And then you finish with # 9. It's just 132' but very well protected. I was impressed with the lack of vandalism considering the remoteness of the course.
Cons:
As easy as it is to find the # 2 hole, we found # 1 just as difficult to locate. It's actually just down the road 50 or 75 yards and there are steps leading down to it.
$7 to play a quick little round is kinda steep.
A spotter is welcome on many holes, especially your first time playing the course.
It's short and rather technical.
Other Thoughts:
There's a reason this course has such a lofty rating. It's a fun play. Although short, as I quickly discovered, a birdie two can become a double bogie in a blink of an eye. Having three tee pads could change things up but I doubt if many players end of playing this course often owing to it's remoteness. I think most of it's play comes from players driving by.