I can thoroughly appreciate Royal Dornoch, Bethpage Red and anything in St. Andrews - all exceptional first time experiences.
For me this year it was a little more pedestrian - Angeles National in LA, Oak Creek in Irvine, CA and Branson Hills in MO.
Angeles National (Palmer) is situated in a deserty environment just north of LA. Generous fairways off the tee - a few forced carries into the greens and interesting greens with some movement depending on the pin placement. Quite a few waste areas and dry arroys.
Oak Creek (Fazio) was a blast. I played with 3 local high school team members - they were playing from the blues and trying to get ready for a qualifying tournament on the next weekend. I played from the forward tees and kept the ball in the fairway on every hole. Drove them crazy. From what I have seen, this is a fairly typical Fazio course with long grass growing into the edges of the bunkers, water in play around a few greens and undulating greens. If you are in the LA area, I recommend both courses.
Of the 3 courses recommended in Branson, I chose Branson Hills (used to be Payne Stewart). A hilly course (different for me since I live in TX) - the downhill holes were great fun - the uphill holes gave me trouble. I found myself laying-up on a few of the uphill - just couldn't get there with a forced carry over a creek or marsh. However, I shot well and therefore enjoyed the course. Pertty straightforward if you can hit in the fairway.