Last year Castle Stuart links golf course near Inverness staged the Scottish Open for the first time after it had been staged at Loch Lomond since 1996.
It was heralded as a bright new start for the Scottish Open, since Castle Stuart is a true links course designed to help the world's greatest golfers fine tune their game before heading to play The Open the following week.
However, the event was marred by dreadful weather with landslides couple with heavy ruin ruining the course and reducing the event to 54 holes.
The course was also criticised by many for being too easy with current World Number One Luke Donald shooting a 19 under par total for the three rounds with many other low scores being shot in the Moray Firth.
I have even had many local club golfers tell me that due to the wide fairways and generous pin positions they didn't find it an overly taxing golf course to play.
Despite all that many of the worlds top golfers including Donald, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els are all heading to Scotland to take part.
They obviously feel it is the best way to make sure their golfing game is inch perfect before The Open starts in two weeks at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
It is clearly a better test for them than the parkways of Loch Lomond. Whilst Loch Lomond was a fantastic venue to visit for spectators, there was always a feeling it simply wasn't the right challenge for the world's best before they tried to win the Claret Jug.
Conditions this week surely can't be worse than last year at Castle Stuart so first and foremost golf fans will be able to get a better picture of how good a course it is.
And of course it is a fine golf course. They didn't pick Castle Stuart out of thin air and Aberdeen Asset Management wouldn't be sponsoring some middle of the road tournament.
With the Irish Open being played in Portrush a fortnight ago, most of the best golfers in the game will have had some fantastic links golf experience so close to The Open.
Castle Stuart might not have lit the golfing world up last year, but the Scottish Open is still an absolute jewel in the crown of the European Tour and the four days near Inverness should provide thrilling golfing action.
As for those to watch, here's my select five:
Luke Donald: The defending champion and World number one. He might have dipped slightly recently but his short game is tremendous and anyone putts as well as he can is always going to contend in most tournaments.
Paul Lawrie: With a Scotsman not winning the event since 1999, the pressure is always on the home golfers, but Lawrie surely has to be in with a chance. He has been in great form this season, enjoying a great comeback as he strolls through his 40s. Always a good links player, Lawrie could finally end the wait for a Scottish winner.
Francesco Molinari: The Italian is my tip to win this week despite having not played the course before. He finished in the top ten at Portrush before ending up in second place at the French Open last week. His game should be suited to the course and with his great form going into it, he is a major contender at Castle Stuart.
Padraig Harrington: A twice Open winner in fine form, the Irishman ticks all the boxes to have a great week at Castle Stuart. Harrington simply thrives in links golf, which can't be said of many golfers these days. But perhaps save your money for him at Royal Lytham the following week.
Stephen Gallacher: Another Scotsman who has had a fine season with two runner up finishes, Gallacher is also a fan of links golf. He always enjoys playing on home soil and with his ball striking exemplary at his best he could creep under the radar.
It might be one of these golfers, but knowing the nature of golf at the moment(and my tips!) it probably won't be.
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