I also played Muirfield last week...Thursday morning and afternoon. I loved everything about it. The routing is stellar, the conditioning was great, and I thought the golf course is just fantastic. What a test. The only negative I could come up with is that it's not on the water; I really had to look hard to find any sort of negative.
We played a murderer's row last week: Nairn, Castle Stuart, Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie, New Course, Old Course, Muirfield, West Links at North Berwick, and Gullane #1. Muirfield was my favorite. The only course I would not play again is Carnoustie...too difficult, and kind of uninspiring. Now, I did play it in about a constant 40 MPH wind, but still...I walked off the eighteenth feeling I got my ass kicked for four hours.
When we were walking out of the Muirfield clubhouse, we passed and chatted briefly with a member (think, in age, appearance, and how he spoke, John Houseman). I asked him about preparations for The Open, and he said, "I fear a foreigner is going to come to our club and win the title. It would upset me greatly to have a foreigner win here...particularly one of yours." He was smiling as he said it, and we thought it was hilarious. A great moment in a great day that was part of a great week.