Brent
I've only played Birkdale and Hesketh and would highly reccommend either, even though there is a difference in both the price and the experience.
Both will be enjoyable, and if one were to assign some sort of cold mathematical formula in terms of the log of $$$/Doak Scale Points (or something of that ilk) Hesketh will always win. However.......
Birkdale is something special, even though it doesn't have the porn-quirk factor most beloved of most of us GCAers. It is a small step or two more intersting, architecturally and in terms of the playing experience, than the top courses above you have mentioned you have played. IMHO, of course.
Also, it is the Open venue for 2008. I think you would kick yourself when you watch it on the telly next year if you missed the chance to play it this September.
As Tommy implies, the Heskeths of the world can be taken at your leisure. The Birkdales, on the other hand, should be seized when made available to you.
Rich