Just played my first game with Scotland. Now, don't misinterpret this post as a knock on them, I think they're very good. The leader bonus is too situational, but in that rare instance where you can use it is quite good, it's like a more realistic version of Curtin's bonus. I honestly didn't use the highlander, had all my territory conquest done by then. The civ ability is the defining characteristic of playing this civ and is remarkably powerful. It's geared heavily towards a scientific victory as not only high science and localized high production are the key yields, but also the great scientists and engineers are the two that have certain people that more-or-less finish the game for you, and most other civs will be wrapping up the game before they are even available. But the bonus is also quite helpful for other victory conditions, having a tech lead on your opponents is always helpful as is being able to produce more.
Then we get to the golf course. Again, I'm not saying it's bad, in fact I think it's quite good. It was a little misleading at first, maybe it's just me as when I first heard that his unique infrastructure would be "golf course," I immediately assumed it was a building replacement for an entertainment complex. I also assumed it wouldn't be available until the indistrial era or later, as I don't recall many stories of medieval knights dismounting from their steed and immediately pulling out a nine iron. Turns out its not a building replacement but a tile improvement, and it's available in an awkward spot on the civics tree during the renaissance.
Then we get to it's bonuses. +1 amenity from a tile improvement. Awesome, so awesome that this single-handedly necessitates only being able to make one per city, and it complements his other great civ ability well. +2 gold is a well-balanced supplement; since you can only build one per city it's not going to be a major source of your income but it's nice that this tile improvement whose main function is to add amenities will always add a little something to the tile yield. +1 appeal to surrounding tiles and +1 or +2 culture from adjacent districts may make this the most interesting tile improvement in my opinion, as it serves two different functions depending on your strategy. If you're going for a culture victory stressing heavily on resorts and parks, you'd pretty much ignore the potential extra culture yield, even though that would add some tourism after flight. Instead, you'd focus it's placement to unlock more resort and park locations as well as maximize the output of preexisting locations. If you're not using this strategy, you'd place them all adjacent to city centers (and entertainment districts where applicable) to get the most out of the tile yield.
But then we get to my point. The description has those magical words, "additional bonuses as you progress through the tech and civics trees" or something to that liking. I much prefer the unique improvements that gain additional bonuses when you hit a certain tech or civic, like the kurgan and the kampung, over the improvements that are mostly or exclusively based on the original placement adjacencies, like the sphinx and chateau. But it doesn't tell you in the description what yields are added and when. So I'm reading through all the asterisks on all the techs and civics and I'm not finding any. Finally, I find the one and only bonus it gets from advancement: a single extra housing when you hit Globalization... Um... seriously, is this supposed to be a joke? By that point in the game, 1.) you already have access to neighborhoods, sewers, the New Deal policy card and if you still need more housing, well more neighborhood(s). Housing at this point in the game is more-or-less unlimited and adding a single extra unit of it is just about irrelevant, especially because 2.) By the time you have globalization you already have the districts in place that you want and the population in place to do what you need them to do to win the game.
Again, I'm not saying it's bad- the amenity, the gold, and the extra culture and/or appeal bonus makes it a really good bonus to have by themselves and they could have stopped there. But then they add one more little thing, that is initially hidden from the player with the indistinct, magical phrasing hinting that "there's more goodies to come with this thing, maybe several and unlocked at different levels" and to later discover that it's just one thing, that's pretty insignificant and comes well after it would have just about any impact on how the game goes, I did chuckle a little, enough to make me think that was the intent.
Then we get to the golf course. Again, I'm not saying it's bad, in fact I think it's quite good. It was a little misleading at first, maybe it's just me as when I first heard that his unique infrastructure would be "golf course," I immediately assumed it was a building replacement for an entertainment complex. I also assumed it wouldn't be available until the indistrial era or later, as I don't recall many stories of medieval knights dismounting from their steed and immediately pulling out a nine iron. Turns out its not a building replacement but a tile improvement, and it's available in an awkward spot on the civics tree during the renaissance.
Then we get to it's bonuses. +1 amenity from a tile improvement. Awesome, so awesome that this single-handedly necessitates only being able to make one per city, and it complements his other great civ ability well. +2 gold is a well-balanced supplement; since you can only build one per city it's not going to be a major source of your income but it's nice that this tile improvement whose main function is to add amenities will always add a little something to the tile yield. +1 appeal to surrounding tiles and +1 or +2 culture from adjacent districts may make this the most interesting tile improvement in my opinion, as it serves two different functions depending on your strategy. If you're going for a culture victory stressing heavily on resorts and parks, you'd pretty much ignore the potential extra culture yield, even though that would add some tourism after flight. Instead, you'd focus it's placement to unlock more resort and park locations as well as maximize the output of preexisting locations. If you're not using this strategy, you'd place them all adjacent to city centers (and entertainment districts where applicable) to get the most out of the tile yield.
But then we get to my point. The description has those magical words, "additional bonuses as you progress through the tech and civics trees" or something to that liking. I much prefer the unique improvements that gain additional bonuses when you hit a certain tech or civic, like the kurgan and the kampung, over the improvements that are mostly or exclusively based on the original placement adjacencies, like the sphinx and chateau. But it doesn't tell you in the description what yields are added and when. So I'm reading through all the asterisks on all the techs and civics and I'm not finding any. Finally, I find the one and only bonus it gets from advancement: a single extra housing when you hit Globalization... Um... seriously, is this supposed to be a joke? By that point in the game, 1.) you already have access to neighborhoods, sewers, the New Deal policy card and if you still need more housing, well more neighborhood(s). Housing at this point in the game is more-or-less unlimited and adding a single extra unit of it is just about irrelevant, especially because 2.) By the time you have globalization you already have the districts in place that you want and the population in place to do what you need them to do to win the game.
Again, I'm not saying it's bad- the amenity, the gold, and the extra culture and/or appeal bonus makes it a really good bonus to have by themselves and they could have stopped there. But then they add one more little thing, that is initially hidden from the player with the indistinct, magical phrasing hinting that "there's more goodies to come with this thing, maybe several and unlocked at different levels" and to later discover that it's just one thing, that's pretty insignificant and comes well after it would have just about any impact on how the game goes, I did chuckle a little, enough to make me think that was the intent.
Do I want a Cahokia Mound or do I want a Stepwell? Hmm, that's a really hard decision. 
