Ally
You may be right that one may learn more at WH! and I have no doubt WH! is more "individual" than Saunton. Being "individual", however, isn't necessarily a completely positive notion from the PoV of the punter. What makes WH! "individual" is the rushes and I don't think they are a good feature, just like I don't think fairways lined with gorse is a good feature (my biggest beef with St Andrews New - green walls - blechh). Maybe one hole just to smack the golfer around is okay. Perhaps one of things I dislike most about the course is once we are free from the dreaded rushes, the following few holes don't do much for me. When I combine these dislikes with the opening two holes I am left with the bad taste of too many holes lacking that glorious terrain we experience along the pebble ridge. In short, the course is too inconsistent for me, but if one likes the rushes they may have a completely different take.
At least one person says the conditioning has improved, but I suspect he caught the course at its peak. As is the case with courses open 12 months a year, before placing too much trust in conditioning, good or bad, see the course in all seasons. That said, I know Saunton has struggled these past few winters and the course was closed for periods due to water.
To me, despite WH! having the best terrain (of the three courses) on a few holes, Saunton East has better overall terrain and a better variety holes which the terrain caters for. Unlike Ryan, I don't think the scale of the dunes is the high point of Saunton or I would prefer the West which is partially located more in the higher dunes. These sorts of dunes are at plenty of places in Ireland etc, plus, most of the East doesn't really get into serious dunes which I think was a remarkable and probably well thought out decision by Fowler.
So, I think if one wants to play the better course, Saunton East is clear choice over WH!...even if that choice is on the cards. If one wants to learn something (as an archie might) and experience the very cool club, then WH! is the clear choice. I did try to play WH! when I went down to Cornwall, but it was raining so hard I gave it a miss. I did walk down the first two holes and despite a recent report, the fairways were not dry, but a bit mucky...just as I recalled them to be when I last played the course. I turned round and headed for Cornwall where the fairways were not keen (especially compared to last year), but nowhere near mucky. One day I will make it back to WH! and if the course isn't awesome I will send the credit card bill to Mark
Ciao