Mac - I'm told that NGLA is closer to being a living presence than any other course in America - and it would interesting to experience that. Carnoustie might not be the home of golf like TOC, but I have a strangely vivid image of Ben Hogan slogging up the fairways in the rain on injured bandaged legs, head down, smoking a cigarette as he worked his magic through a bogie-free round on that stern test -- and I'd like to see/feel if some of his spirit lives there still. Ballyneal - because I want to play one of TD's courses, but for some reason have never been overly drawn to the ocean as setting for golf (though I'd like to drink a pot of tea while sitting on a sea-side cliff in Newfoundland, wearing a cardigan), and instead am drawn to a vista of rolling, treeless green that stretches for miles; and also because the ego in me wants to play a course that I believe will one day be ranked Number One in the United States. The nerd in me would like to play Garden City, because I want to be able to talk/preach in minute detail and from a wealth of personal experience about the greatness and grandness of a flattish almost featureless site/bit of nature as an ideal field of play. And five: would bring me back across the ocean, but with a tough decision - either Pennard (and a round with Sean Arble soaking up his insights) or two days at Walton Heath, playing golf, having lunch with the oldest members, drinks with the Captain, early morning strolls with the club professional and superintendant, evenings by the fire with a book and a scotch - in short, pretendng I'm an English gentleman.
Peter