There is something magical stepping on to the 1st tee during Golden Hour at Muirfield. With the sun producing a golden glow and casting shadows highlighting the ripples and subtle movement in the land, the ground game, as I'd never seen like this before, takes centre stage. Ground game as in how the land, the fairways, the greens and bunkering are as one, knitted seamlessly tightly together. Ground game as in how the game should be played on these marvelous links.

Muirfield offers up the most wonderful experience, where sitting outside on the terrace, watching and chatting with golfers both local and from all over the World, seems as important as actually wandering out over these famous links.

But reviews are about the architecture and for what is a relatively flat piece of land, the design, the routing, the challenge, the questions asked of the golfer are World Class. And I dont say this lightly. Any architect worth their salt can take undulating land and make great hole designs, but to take relatively flat land and create something special, well thats another level. Originally designed by Old Tom Morris but really having Harry Colts fingerprints as it's lasting legacy, the subtleness of each hole design is mind blowing. It's that good.

It's a course where the overall feeling of how beautifully designed it is, how the bunkers meld with the land as opposed to contrived creations, where the greens and surrounds demand complete attention throughout, will live long with me even after my detailed hole by hole memories fade.

Right from the off, the bunkering amazes. The 1st has 7 bunkers, all different shapes and sizes - horse shoe, coffin - take a look back down the hole from the green and they're all hidden from view. That's how seamlessly they blend into the land.

My favourite hole?

The 13th - an uphill par 3. This is a difficult one shotter. The green is only 15 paces wide at it's widest point, angles to the left and is protected by 2 bunkers left and 3 right. Add the back to front slope, this is no easy par hole.

Muirfield doesn't deliver 'wow' holes as such, but the consistency of high calibre hole designs is as good as anywhere i have played. There isnt a weak hole. Even the underrated 2nd was one of my favourites as this short par 4 offers up plenty of jeopardy with OOB encroaching from the left as you play close to the boundary wall, getting within 15 foot of the green. The green has 4 bunkers to the right given this is the angle golfers will choose to play away from the wall and a heavily contoured green to boot.