Gleneagles
Scotland, UK
The well renowned and prestigious Gleneagles resort, with its award winning
hotel and three excellent 18 hole championship courses is a must visit on any
golfers 'bucket list'. Set in the Perth countryside just an
hours drive from both Edinburgh and Glasgow, the resort hosted the Ryder Cup in
2014 and will now play host to the Solheim Cup in 2019.
Gleneagles estate offers an unrivalled array of attractions that includes a
five-star luxury hotel, three championship golf courses, Scotland's PGA National
Golf Academy
and an award-winning spa. Guests can take part in a host of leisure activities
and countryside pursuits on the Gleneagles Estate including shooting, fishing,
archery, gun dog handling, equestrian and off-road driving schools.
In the mornings, the Gleneagles Hotel serves an award-winning full Scottish
breakfast. With 4 fine dining restaurants, guests can enjoy imaginative menus
in the Michelin Starred Andrew
Fairlie restaurant, along with the Birnam Brasserie, the formal
Strathearn, and the lively Dormy Bar and Grill.
Golf Courses
The PGA Centenary Course, created by Jack
Nicklaus, is a modern classic. Host to a number of major golf tournaments,
the most notable being the 2014 Ryder Cup, which was played on the PGA
Centenary Courde and in 2019 will also host the 2019 Solheim Cup, undoubtedly
the biggest event in women’s golf.
The tees are graded at each hole in five stages, including a challenging
6,815 yards from the white markers down to 5,322 from the red. Fittingly, The
PGA Centenary Course begins by playing southeast towards the glen, sweeping up
the Ochil Hills to the summit of the pass below Ben Shee which joins it to
Glendevon. A feature of The PGA Centenary Course is the feast of views of
the spectacular countryside in which Gleneagles is set. Putting on the two-tier
second green, you are distracted by the lush panorama of the rich Perthshire
straths. As you move westwards over the next few holes, the rugged Grampians
come into view on the right, then distantly purple ahead, Ben Vorlich and the
mountains above the Trossachs.
The King's Course, opened in
1919, is a masterpiece of golf course design, which has tested the aristocracy
of golf, both professional and amateur. James Braid's plan for the King's
Course was to test even the best players' shot-making skills over the eighteen
holes. You find out all about it with your first approach shot. If you
have driven straight and long from the tee, you will have what looks like a
simple pitch to the elevated green. But you must be sure to select the correct
club, because the shot is always a little longer than you think, with the wind
over the putting surface often stronger than you can feel it from the fairway. And
if you do not make the severely sloping green, a bunker yawns twenty feet
below. Selecting the right club for each approach shot is the secret on
the King's. It is certainly one of the most beautiful and exhilarating places
to play golf in the world, with the springy moorland turf underfoot, the
sweeping views from the tees all around, the rock-faced mountains to the north,
the green hills to the south, and the peaks of the Trossachs and Ben Vorlich on
the western horizon.
Threading through high ridges on the north and west sides of the estate, the
The Queen's Course offers
lovely woodland settings, lochans and ditches as water hazards, as well as many
moorland characteristics.At 3,192 yards long, the challenge of the first nine
can be deceptive, with even some of the best players finding it a test to make
par into a fresh south westerly breeze. Do not be lulled into a sense of
false security as you stand on the first tee. The "Trystin' Tree," or
lover's meeting place, after which the hole is named, is a challenging opener.
The ground falls away at your feet, the fairway swings round to the left and
slopes towards the trees, and there are a couple of cunningly placed bunkers
testing your approach into the miniscule green.