Just played the course this morning....got to say that I was very impressed with the course. The site that it is on is probably the most rugged looking site for a golf course. The surrounding desert cliffs and valleys are so severe I was impressed how they were able to fit such a fabulous course in there.
I played the tips and at a little less then 7000 wasn't as hard as I thought would be, considering the starter gives me the old "don't play those, we recommend those only for professional players." Then he tells me..."based on the rating and slope this is the hardest ocurse in America" I think the rating is 75.6 and slope is 154. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head on some other courses but I would say that Whistling Straits, Wolf Run, Tobacco Road, etc. are all harder courses.
The layout is good considering the location and I really liked how many exclusive tee boxes there were for the very very back tees. Felt like you were playing your own course.
Now I preface my comments in that I am from Michigan and the only "desert" or "western" layouts I have played are Desert Mountain (Chiriqua and Otlaw), Lakota Canyon, Redlands Mesa and Old Works. This course tops all them. It has some great vistas out there and it is a good variety of holes (risk/reward, forced carries, redan, long par 4's, short par 4's, long par 3's, short par 3's)
A few things I didn't like were the cart path issues out there. A lot of ups and downs and steep hills. U had to walk to your ball everywhere from the paths. The cart paths were too skinny in fact so u could never get around people. Also, I thought a few holes there was a little too much "target" golf (similar to Tobacco Road). I really didn't know where I was going or was supposed to aim...but a few more rounds there and you'd get the feel.
Overall a solid course (personally think it's in the #17 to #25 range in my own rankings ahead of like Lakota Canyon, Redlands Mesa, etc). I thank those who recommended it to me.
-Brian