My September 2020 visit to Irvine (bounce), Western Gailes (stapleford), and Prestwick (bounce) was good fun. In fact I just signed up for events at WG and Prestwick in May 2021.
My only gripes with Western Gailes were (1) that it did feel (based on a single play in Stapleford format) that tee shots seemed to require one fade after another, (2) the walk-backs got rather old hole after hole, and (3) the M&E bunkering looked daft. The par 3 at the south end of the course (#13) really could be repositioned to at least remove two such instances, but those are minor gripes. I am excited to get back in May.
I found
Irvine really good fun during my two rounds. Ally's points about the greens are accurate. There's a couple of holes that I'm not sure work. I'm all for blind holes, but 6 seemed contrived. (Birdie-Bogey that day, for the record.) There's not much you can do though in that part of the property. 13 has a great blind tee shot (that I messed up twice thinking I couldn't possibly aim that far left) but that is let down by a pedestrian fairway that had the appeal of a a driving range. Those two holes are right by the SSSI, so perhaps there's only so much they can do, but without that context they were just a bit off. That said, I think the holes from there on in are a delight. 17 is a wild ride that reminded me of Braid Hills (of which I am a fan).
Irvine has two sub-300 yard par fours on the front nine (4 and 5) that are conceivably drivable. 4 has a long, narrow, elevated green with OB on the left, but with room right to hit anything from a 6 iron to a 3 wood. 5 struck me initially as more spectacular with a more viable option to drive the green. I imagine an accomplished player could reach it with a 3 wood (or less). The morning driver ended in the junk on the left; the after shot ended with a gimmee birdie. The sensible play for me is probably iron-wedge. 4 seemed the more interesting hole. Thinking back, it reminds me of a more polished version of Braid Hills 3rd hole, for those who know that course, in that you can go for green but that you most likely going to have a delicate (and blind) approach in, even if only from 30 yards.
Three (350 yards, with what I understand is the prevailing wind) is another hole I wasn't really sure about. You really only have a small neck through which you could run the ball to drive the green or end up in gorse (right), bunker (center), or a large gully (left). The 100-yard walk back from the 2nd green to the 3rd tee is a bit annoying. You could have a Redan-adjacent par three instead by simply building new tees nearer the 2nd green, which would in turn could give you room to make 1, 2, and 18 a little less cramped than they are right now.
Irvine is similar to my current home club in East Lothian (former Open Final qualifying venue, history of accomplished amateurs, unusual scorecard, flat greens) although with greater elevation change. I thought it a fun day and would go back on the same terms as I did in September.
I've nothing new to say about Prestwick that no one has previously said except "I enjoyed it enormously and would go back at any opportunity."