Hi Brian,
I am fortunate to have spent considerable time in both the UK and USA.
I spent 2 years living and working in London and managed to play courses such as Parkstone, Little Aston, Isle of Purbeck, Belfry, Forest of Arden and a few others. My greatest golfing moment in the UK however was when I travelled up to St Andrews for the 05 open. We arrived at dusk on the Tuesday night, with fog rolling in over TOC. I will never never forget that moment, I could sense the history and feel the aura of the place immediately, and the fog rolling in made it magical.
I won't go into detail regarding that Tuesday night, the amount of beer drunk, and the evasion of security guards as my mate and I sneaked onto the 18th tee and posed for photographs on the swilken bridge at 2 am.
The mate I went to St Andrews with was playing on the secondary Euro tour at the time and I had the opportunity to carry his bag in open qualifiers and some tour events.
In the USA, I have played far fewer courses. A couple in the LA area, Paiute Wolf in Vegas, and Champions Gate in Orlando.
The best courses I have played - without a doubt Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm in Tasmania. Until playing those two last year, I had no idea how much fun could be had on a golf course. Even in 50km winds! The green complexes are just phenomenal. Personally, I had LF slightly ahead on points compared with BD, however a second visit might be in order, just to make sure.