The European Tour takes some shots from golf course aficionados on the layouts the circuit plays frequently as it takes events to new coordinates – and new sponsors – around the world. Some reviews are fair, others less so.

But everything is debatable this week. Relax, fire up the tube and enjoy some of the best golf courses in the world for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

St. Andrews Old Course. Carnoustie. Kingsbarns. They form an incredible triumvirate of Scottish links around St. Andrews, the best professional rotation of a week in golf.

The Old Course is, of course, the Old Course. It’s golf. Old Tom. Young Tom. Until Tiger Woods. It’s the homeland of golf, marketing says – and it’s true. And always exciting to watch.

Carnoustie is not to be outdone, himself. Home to eight former British Opens – ahem, Open Championships – Carnoustie’s Championship Course presents one of the most challenging and exciting conclusions in golf. Just ask Jean van de Velde about the dreaded Barry Burn, where his 1999 British Open title shot was drowned inglorious.

And for people who don’t follow modern golf architecture closely, Kingsbarns may seem like the third wheel in this spin. Trust us, it is not. The Kyle Phillips design which opened in 2000 has climbed all the rankings of the various courses – including the best of Golfweek – to become one of the most popular tees in Europe.

The only thing that comes close to that rotation on the PGA Tour is the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill, and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course welcoming celebrities and pros every year. Pebble Beach ranks 9th on Golfweek’s list of the best classic courses for the United States, and Spyglass is ranked 31st among all modern courses in the United States. Not bad at all. It’s hard to beat the vibe on this part of the California coast.

But when it comes to the elite course ranking, no rotation compares to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. And like the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Dunhill Links also offers celebrity ground in a pro-am format to make things a little more interesting. Each team will play all three courses over the first three days, with teams and individuals making the cut by playing the Old Course on Sunday.

Keep scrolling to learn more about each of the courses in this week’s rotation.

The Old Course at St. Andrews (Golfweek files)

Year of construction: Unknown, but the roots go back to 15^e century.

Designate: Unknown who plotted the various routes used in the early centuries, but Old Tom Morris is credited with much of how the course appears today, including the 18-hole format and the design of the first and second. 18^e green vegetables.

Best Golfweek ranking: N ° 2 among the classic courses of Great Britain and Ireland built before 1960.

British Open: Hosted the Open 29 times and will be again in 2022.

Carnoustie championship course (David Cannon / Getty Images)

Year of construction: Official records date back to 1842, but clubs claim that golf was played on the golf course even earlier.

Designate: The club reports that a local editor named Robert Chambers established a route in the 1830s. Allan Robertson laid the bones of the current course in 1850, with Old Tom Morris renovating it in the 1870s, followed by James Braid working on the traced in 1926. James Wright traced the current closing stretch around Barry Burn prior to the British Open in 1937..

Best Golfweek ranking: N ° 14 among the classic courses of Great Britain and Ireland built before 1960.

British Open: Eight openings passed.

Kingsbarns (Golfweek files)

Opening year: 2000

Designate: Kyle phillips

The best of Golfweek: No.1 among modern British and Irish courses built in 1960 or later.

British Open: It’s not in the major’s rotation – nothing new is. So kick back and enjoy this week’s coverage of St. Andrews’ best modern course.