Golf is full of great stretches of holes — Amen Corner, the finish at Pebble Beach — and the front nine at Royal Aberdeen is as good as any of them. There is near complete agreement that the first half at Royal Aberdeen is exceeded nowhere in golf. And these dune-lined holes along the North Sea are as challenging as they are spectacular. Which is to say, very. While the back nine cannot match the perfection of the first, don’t sleep on these holes. They occupy higher, less dramatic ground, but with better views the overall experience is no less rewarding. This is one of the great links courses of the world.