Tom Watson said Royal Dornoch was the most fun he ever had on a golf course. Herbert Warren Wind said no golfer has completed his education until he's played it. Andrew Carnegie said if there's a heaven on earth it's here. I played Royal Dornoch toward the end of our Highlands trip and my honest reaction was simpler than any of those. Good course. I enjoyed it. I don't feel qualified to rank it among the great spiritual experiences of my golfing life the way the Americans see

There are courses where the architecture is the star and there are courses where the land is the star. Cruden Bay is both at once. You walk off the 18th green and you can't tell whether you've just played one of the most brilliantly designed courses in Scotland or just spent four hours on the most spectacular piece of duneland nature ever handed to a golf course architect. The honest answer is both. Old Tom Morris laid out the original course in 1899.

Old Tom Morris Links at Rosapenna is pure fun to play.

Set beneath the Mourne Mountains along the shores of Dundrum Bay in Northern Ireland, Royal County Down is a links course that feels utterly timeless.