One club that exceeded my expectations for its playability was Dunes Club, the 9-hole course in Michigan.
If you play, you must trust your caddie the first time round. So many shots must be played with a veteran eye on that course. After that first nine, you can start to rely on your intuition ... if you wish to play poorer. In other words, trust your caddie until you leave New Buffalo.
Dunes is touted as a tribute to Pine Valley. I've not been on Pine Valley, but if it is compared favorably with Dunes, then Pine Valley must be quite special.
Most great nine hole courses have a variety of teeing decks, to essentially create a second version of a hole. Whitinsville is an exception, as it is great without the variety of decks. Dunes does this magnificently on its par three holes, and to a degree, on the par four seventh and par five eight holes.
Dunes has so much fairway width. You have no need to try to bomb the ball, as the natural firmness of the sandy site will allow your ball to run out. If you strive for anything off the tee, it should be a punch-accuracy drive. Get the ball in play and work the ground game into the drive zone.
You don't need an aerial game at Dunes, if you are a confident chipper and putter. You can get the ball into position on or near every green in regulation, but your work with the scoring clubs will determine the fate of your tally. Only one shot (the approach into hole five) must carry an unforgiving hazard (pond). The approach into three and the tee ball on eight must also carry deep hazards, but for goodness sake, you shouldn't be playing there if you don't have a 110-yard wedge or a 150-yard tee ball.
A great course must have one controversial shot or hole, that as time goes by, becomes less controversial. I'm told that there was an overhanging branch on the eighth hole, in the lay-up zone for the second shot, that narrowed the hole even more. I had about five runs at the 8th hole and I don't believe I ever parred it. I just couldn't hit my second shot far enough to the right. Come to think of it, despite blistering four of five drives into the fairway on nine, I don't think I parred it, either. Just couldn't putt those days, I guess.
As others have expressed, I expected much from Dunes, but what I experienced exceeded those expectations in a lateral way. It wasn't greater, but it was better. It wasn't more challenging, but it was fairer. It wasn't tougher, but it was fun!