I'll give an admittedly very subjective comment based on impressions of the overall look and location of the facility. And to add to the weak validity of my remarks, I admit I only visited and never played the course. I read and viewed all the threads from the developer comments during conception and construction, to Mark Salzman's excellent photo essay and tour.
In terms of natural terrain assets, I don't think AD has any more or less advantage over Wild Horse. Yet, I would offer a bias opinion that Wild Horse easily accomplished critical acclaim and high regard with a strong "prairie golf lover" following where AD seems to be struggling in that regard. I attribute the apparent less enthusiastic embrace by prairie golf seekers to the late copycat entry and proportionality of the initial vision and express goals of the developer by comparison to how Wild Horse came into being via very humble and economical vision of a small communitywhose local citizens were collectively behind the project.
AD seems to have attempted to follow on in the wake of the splash that the original Sand Hills accomplished, which was followed by BallyNeal, Dismal River I, and then Prairie Club, Those clubs were the real deal in terms of remote sand hill and prairie destinations on vast acreage, evoking the etherial and unique expanse of the sand hill environment. they are the get-away from it all ideals that people of means all around the country seek. You can not get that with AD. Essentially that big lot wide open spaces of the sand hills model was attempted to be placed on a failed existing local community 9 holer that didn't have anything suggesting remoteness in its make-up. Like Wild HOrse, the land of AD is but a few miles from the city limits. AD is just south of what I believe is the 3rd or 4th largest urban area of Nebraska. It is a few miles off of I-80. While you might think that is handy to get travelling golfers to drop in on their way to those other remote destination courses, the initial model wasn't actually a drop-in sort of concept. The private club impetus with apparent loose openess to the drop-in public golfer during the intial lean prospecting of member period was a round peg in a square hole, IMHO.
The Engh remodel of the 9 hole Craneview golf club with an additional more rolling terrain north across the road, suggesting a more authentic sand hill land tract caused a bit of schitzophrenia, and the two 9s had a certain disconnect of appearance. Couple that with the attempt to place a big lot, wide fairway, rolly polly green complex sand hill model, and it just didn't seem to work. All that probably led to a higher cost to construct, and what needs to be charged to make a profit, along with on-going member prospecting efforts, and it just doesn't seem authentic.
A more modest design like Wild Horse, with good strategy yet unpretentious presentation could be contrasted with ADs manufactured private exclusive club atmosphere that seems more marketed to second club membership. I think a local Nebraska golfers market, particularly a concept of appealing to avid locals to be the best public course in the area for the Kearney resident citizens, with affordable green fees, might have been a better formula for success, it just seems to me.
I still think it could be a great asset for the locals and that general community region, and catalyst to promote even more local public golf participation with a scaled down affordabilty and inviting non-exclusive private club aspiration, if the cost to operate it efficiently can be achieved. But, that may involve a lot of wasted developer assets to scale it down.
..jJust my very impressionistic opinion.