How do you compare these types of courses , particularly as to the impact of the wind?

The courses with the big dunes tend to be the ones which are most loved by Americans and most photographed ... Ballybunion is the epitome of that, Cruden Bay second.

The courses with modest dunes probably offer a fuller variety of golf.  The conditions which form big dunes generally don't form the littler contours which make the short game so interesting, so unless the architect shaped it in when he built the course, it probably isn't there.

I'm thinking that a course with big dunes may somewhat shelter the player from the wind and make it more difficult to judge how strong the wind is up when the ball's in flight.  Not that they're massive dunes, but the outward nine at Royal Aberdeen would be an example of where you're tucked down below the dune ridge and it could potentially be more difficult to judge what the wind's going to do to your ball when it gets up above the protection of the dunes.

Mike:

Carne is another example of my thought, the greens complexes there are generally not very compelling.

With regard to how big dunes affect the wind ... I think they make it harder to judge, but I've never played in dunes so big that they block the wind's effect on an aerial shot.  There may be some anomalies from the wind ducking down over the dunes, but not as much as caused by trees on a windy day inland.

The conditions which form big dunes generally don't form the littler contours which make the short game so interesting, so unless the architect shaped it in when he built the course, it probably isn't there.

Any notable exceptions to this, i.e. courses with big dunes that also have the smaller ones?  Looking at the pictures of Royal County Down made me wonder.  

Also, suppose you have the big dunes but not the smaller ones.  How hard is it to shape the littler contours?  Can they work from a playing standpoint, and also look natural to the site?