For anyone interested, figured I'd give the final run down of courses. Definitely didn't do a very good job in terms of location planning, averaging about 3 hours of driving everyday, but it was totally worth it for the quality and variety of courses.
Heres where I played and some brief thoughts:
- Machrie Golf Links on Islay - Pleasantly surprised. Some fun holes, and nice views. 5 holes and the clubhouse under construction. Literally not a single person there.
- Machrihanish - Played in 25 mile an hour winds. Opening tee shot was spectacular, found other holes to be a little more hit and miss, with many of them blending together.
- Gleneagles (Kings Course) - Wow, what a surprise. I thought this course was phenomenal, and am surprised it hasn't received more recognition. Sure it's not a links course, but damn, what a fun routing.
- Boat of Garten - Thanks to you guys for the recommendation. Some really fun holes, and played MUCH longer than its 5800 yards would have you believe. Lots of elevated tee shots hitting down, to steep uphill approaches.
- Castle Stuart - I LOVE modern links courses (Bandon, Kingsbarns, Whistling etc), so was right at home here. The course was a ton of fun, and enjoyed the ways they made it more accessible to both lower and higher handicaps (for instance, less bunkering around in the front right of the green complexes, and more mounding with tight lies).
- The Old Course - I'm still processing this. I can see from an architectural stand point why it's one of the greatest courses in the world. It was amazing to experience for the history of it as well, but I personally didn't enjoy it quite as much as some of the other courses I've played.
- Loch Lomond - Again, I don't care if it's an American style course in Scotland, it's damn good. Inland holes off the loch were better than anticipated as well.
Let me know if anyone is interested in some photos and I can post some.