Some general thoughts on the course before the hole-by-hole look.
What is the conditioning like? I had heard both positive and negative feedback before going. In my opinion, the conditioning was excellent. There are a few random areas where there are obvious patches in the fairway turf, but these really don't detract from the playability. The fairways were firm. The greens sounded like new greens should - like a table top when the ball lands on them. The turf was quite good everywhere. It's probably the best conditioned course I've seen in Scotland. The one fly in the ointment is that most of the fairways are rye grass at the moment, and although it provides a fine playing surface, it is not fescue, and therefore is not like a true Scottish links course should be. Also the green surrounds are fescue and the difference in look and playability between the surrounds and fairways is clearly evident.
Are the playing corridors as narrow as they look in pictures? No, for the most part, the fairways are amply wide, although if the winds get up and are across the course, no width is probably sufficient, especially from the more elevated tees. There are, however, a fair number of what look, on one playing, to be fairly daunting carries from elevated tees to narrow looking fairways. I suspect that, for the most part, if you are playing from the proper tees, the carries are quite doable and the landing areas are suitably wide.
Is the rough as penal as has been reported? Simple answer - yes. I saw some areas where they appear to be trying to cut back some of the marram grass, but I'd guess they can't do too much of that for fear of destabilizing the dunes. Any balls (with one exception) that I hit off the fairway into the marram grass were lost. This was unlike Cruden Bay and North Berwick where I played before and after TIGLS. Having the possibility of hitting a recovery shot from the rough is much preferred over having to hit a provisional and taking a lost ball penalty.
Are there too many bunkers? Sure, on some holes - 4 and 18 come to mind. A little restraint would have been better in my opinion. Strangely, given the plethora of bunkers, I was not one the whole day.
What about the multitude of tees and walking paths connecting them? There sure are a lot of tees and they are at many different elevations and angles on every hole. But, they are generally visually isolated from each other. Because of the multiple angles, it was necessary to have paths going to and from each one. They chose to make many of them artistically flowing in nature and beautifully landscaped in rye grass. They look quite unlike green to tee paths I have seen anywhere else, and most certainly unlike any other links courses that I've seen. One of the byproducts of the tee arrangement is that there needs to be sign posts on every hole to give directions to each tee block.
Is TIGLS the greatest course in the world? Surely not today and maybe never. There are a few pedestrian holes. The greens I thought, as a group, were going to be fun and challenging for any who play there. They are anything but pedestrian. The first three par 3's are all excellent and world class. The last one is good but not great, being somewhat along the lines of the 12th at Augusta with an angled green, but no creek. There is the modern requisite short par 4 that is likely drivable by almost all if you are on the proper tees. The course in total is big, bold and brash. Most links courses that I prefer are small, subtle and reserved. To me TIGLS is clearly engineered into the dunescape unlike its older links neighbours in Scotland. That, to me, is somewhat jarring. Perhaps it will age in to a more natural look. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that somebody said TIGLS was in the dunes, but not of the dunes. That's a pretty neat summary. Given the scale of the dunes, I'm not quite sure how they could have made the course part of the dunes. Maybe in the end, it looks like a modern course that just happens to be surrounded by very large dunes. It is undeniably pretty to look at, if you like large, wild dunes around your holes. All-in-all, a very good golf course, but not at the level of great yet. Let's see how it settles in. Sadly, I doubt I'll play it again; it's too price prohibitive and if I'm in Scotland there are a bunch of links courses that I love and are way more affordable.