What's wrong with 10-12 at Cruden Bay, then? 10 has a stunning tee shot (even though it's a relatively bland hole from there), 11 is a solid if unspectacular short par 3 in the Postage Stamp mold, and 12 is a deceptively uphill par 4. Maybe people don't like them because they're relatively flat? (But then, nobody has lumped #9 at Cruden Bay into that equation, which for me is easily the poorest hole on the course and surely the only mediocre hole on it.)
As for Kingsbarns #18...I really like it. I haven't played Turnberry, but doesn't Turnberry's 16th green bear a noticeable resemblance to Kingsbarns' 18th? (I'm not saying they're identical, just that the concept is hardly unique.) Kingsbarns' is a striking finishing hole with a wonderful green; conservative play (i.e. going long with your second) leaves a truly scary pitch back down the hill, so much so that you're *almost* safer hitting your second in the burn just to make sure you don't hit your third in it. Paul Turner and I played 36 out there early last year on the day before the official season started - we had the course virtually to ourselves - and I vividly remember staying out on the 18th green as we finished just before sunset for about 20 minutes, hitting all sorts of pitches, chips and putts to and from various sections of it and having a whale of a time. Sure, it feels a little contrived, but you could say that about the rest of the course; in the end, the 18th is a heck of a lot of fun, just like the rest of the course.
Cheers,
Darren