Castle Stuart

Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen built Castle Stuart to make golfers feel brilliant: wide infinity fairways that seem to hang above the Moray Firth, greens that gather rather than repel, and four Scottish Opens' worth of championship pedigree.

The trick of the place is the framing—bridge, lighthouse and castle sit behind the greens like aiming posts. It's the rare championship links that's pure pleasure for a mid-handicapper.