It's a bit crazy to me that I played Moraine, Victoria National, and Northland (MN) for the first time in 2018, and not one of those tops my favorite new course played list.
Instead, that honor goes to Kiawah Ocean Course. Kiawah is where I inadvertently fell in love with the game 16 years ago during a post school-year trip, walking past Turtle Point every day, driving past Cougar Point on excursions to Charleston, and deciding to give golf a chance. On another trip to Kiawah, I would develop a relationship with a woman whom I eventually married and had children with. So yeah, Kiawah Island has a special place in my heart.
Encouraged by my wife to bite the bullet, I finally played the Ocean Course. What I found was a tough, but a very enjoyable and playable golf course. The whole experience was amazing. First tee-time out, perfect weather, wind blowing a bit, but not too hard, and perfect conditioning. It really was everything I thought it would be and more.
As enjoyable as the experience was, would I play rack rate to play it again? That's debatable. I passed on an opportunity to play Chambers Bay because I didn't think it was "worth" it. Yet, I paid more than double that for my round at Kiawah with mandatory caddy. It's all relative, eh?
Other honorable mentions go to The Wilderness at Fortune Bay and Giants Ridge (Quarry). It was a bummer I played those courses after the winter they had in northern Minnesota last year, as the greens were still in recovery mode (even in August); especially at Giants Ridge.