Brian -
I don't mean to single out Gullane. One of the things that struck me about the courses I played in Scotland last summer was how inartfully some of them handle elevation changes.
For example, I think the weakest holes at Dornoch (nos. 7 and 16) both happen to involve elevation changes. Ditto for Cruden Bay; nos. 9 and 10 are not up to the rest of the holes on that wonderful course. Gullane fits the same pattern.
It's interesting to note that Kingsbarns is built on the side of a large hill, but the course is routed so that the only time you move up or down its pronounced slope is between greens and tees. No hole climbs or descends the hill. Well, maybe the tee shot on no. 18 does. But you take my point.
As to my ANGC comparison, I think it apt. Though Gullane is some 400 years older, both were designed by the hand of man. Someone located tees, greens and fairway centerlines on both courses. Weighing the relative merits of those design decisions is not, I think, improper.
Bob