Gleneagles - Kings Course(pictures)

[Philip Gawith]

Here are some pictures from a few weeks back. I really enjoyed my second visit to the course which has a lot of variety and interest. It is difficult to believe that this course was once criticised for being too American - is there a course in America with as many blind shots?

[Philip Gawith]

Here are a few more....

[Marty Bonnar]

Thanks Philip,
the place looks as delicious as ever. You'll be making a certain PA physician green with envy. We were discussing it only yesterday.

That 9th greensite is one of my all-world favourites. What a hoot to play and glorious use of a natural feature.

Agreed that is is looking a lot americaniSed(!), but I think that's mostly down to the mowing regime rather than any other result of the maintenance programme. Shaggy would look nice. Kind of surprising when you know the people involved in the maintenance 'history'. Maybe Junior can have a word...?

FBD.

[David_Tepper]

Philip -

Thanks, as always, for the great pics.  Did you play any of the other courses besides the King's?

DT

[Tony_Muldoon]

I've not been there, but I'm very cur/envious.  Lots of Q's e.g.

How does it play?  Inland links/Heathland/Augusta on Spey?

The routing is "verry innaresting", not exactly out and back and definately not two loops of 9.  Again how does it play, given local winds etc?

Would Sean think it worth the money to travel away from the bargains to be found on the links?
Tell the truth. If I take the present Mrs Muldoon to the spa hotel for a weekend "a deux", will I end up with a similar mortgage extension  to the one that Turnberry gave us?

(PS Thanks for the pics).

[Rich Goodale]

Tony

IMHO, it is Heathland.  Think of Swinley Forest on steroids--much greater and more interesting elevations, and maintained faster and firmer.

As for the dirty weekend with Ms. Muldoon, there is none better to be had in Scotland.  Turrnberry is a mere pup in comparison.  When it comes to understated elegance which delivers, Gleneagles is the real thing.

Rich

[Tom_Doak]

I have not played there in years and years, but I loved the course on my first go-around.

I can't believe all the stripe-mowing they are doing.  It's got my gag reflex going.

[Greg Chambers]

too american due to the obnoxious striping

[Mike_Clayton]

The strips are interesting - and awful.
Others will know better than me but it seems it began in America and the British copied.
Wentworth is the worst of all and it seems the more they can make it look like a chessboard the cleverer the greenkeeper - when the opposite is true.
It seems to be a real mark on the tour courses in Europe.

We played the Scottish Open here five or six times in the late eighties and early nineties and it was great fun.
I understand you cannot get degrees of blind - its either blind or not - but the shot over the massive hill on the 3rd is the most difficult blind shot I have ever played - if knowing where you are going is the measure. You sort of knew where the green was but there was nothing to indicate where it was and the fairway is tumbling and wide so you had so many different angles and lines.

[Marty Bonnar]

Mike,
that's funny you should mention old Scottish Opens. I now have a vague recollection that I may have seen you play up there.
Tell me, were you guys already starting to think it was a wee bit too short for your capabilities, or was the weather still in play?
How cool would it be to find some more length on the Kings and thus be able to plough up thon ither monstrosity for a housing tract! (DK is doing a GREAT job on it so far - only six more years though)

FBD.

[Mike_Clayton]

Martin,

It was quite short and not too difficult. The scores were always low.
Peter O'Malley did that amazing finish in 1992 - eagle,birdie,birdie,birdie,eagle to win.
The 4th has a massivly par four and 11 was a big par three (I saw Mike Allen make a par there once after losing a ball!!).
Other than those two holes it was short but the par fives - 6,10 and 18 - were strong two shot holes where you really had to hit.
Into the wind the 12th and 13th were also quite long but as far as they hit now with no wind, I imagine,  they would be only short irons.

[Philip Gawith]

It is good to see that people are consistent in their responses! Mr Doak was moaning about the mowing patterns 18 months or so ago when last this course was discussed! But with respect to Greg Chambers, you need to look past the mowing patterns and accept that this course does not fit into any American template that I have ever heard of. Indeed my caddie - of 30 years standing - told me that the pro's - I am sure Mike C was an honourable exception - used to hate playing this course because of all the blind shots and quirk.

I am sorry i was a bit lazy and did not detail the holes or comment on them, but sometimes the editing task itself takes so much time you run out of puff!

As to how it plays - I agree with Rich - it does not run so much as to make you think you are on a links, but it is certainly not Augusta on  Spey. And you are right Tony re the routing - it is all over the shop so wind is a real factor - I suppose i  noticed it most on the short holes which were difficult to club. There is a lot of elevation change on the course and that adds a lot to the interest and the challenge.

Re Mr Arble - fortunately I was not paying so I escaped the grubby details of commerce. But Gleneagles is a very smart hotel so it can't be cheap - while i think the golf is maybe around 140/50 per round on all the courses. All the caddies hate caddying on the Monarch because it is a 50% longer walk for same money! I have only been to Turnberry once, about 10 years ago, but I would agree with Rich and take a lot of persuading that it can match Gleneagles. The latter is a magnificent old hotel by any standard - now fully modernised. Turnberry by comparison felt like a bit of a Scottish sanatorium.

David I also played the Queens but light was poorer so did not take many pictures. The Monarch is the Ryder Cup course as you doutbless know - then there is the "wee" course which looks fun - and outside the hotel there is an even wee-er pitch and putt.

[Matthew Delahunty]

Great pictures, Philip - I enjoyed them immensely.

[Jeff Taylor]

Yes the mowing patterns taste of America. Couple that with the bunkering style and you got quite an eclectic look and feel. However, the routing is spectacular. You play hills from every angle.
For Philip, you had to climb some extra hills to get those views of the golf holes. Your feet must have been tired. I thought about that view of 17 but was too tired to walk over there.

[Philip Gawith]

Tks Matthew!

Jeff - that angle, alas, came naturally to me as both times i fired my drive miles out right - a cover drive in cricketing jargon! It is a drive that requires some attention otherwise you end  up in the hay on the right which is not a promising place to approach from! But it does give you a nice picture!

[Matt Kardash]

Looking at these pictures was like looking exactly into my own aesthetic. The look and feel of this course is how I see golf architecture in my head. If I designed a golf course and could translate what was in my head onto the ground, it would probably result in a course of this style.

[James Boon]

Philip,

Thanks for the great pictures!

I must play this course again as I only have a fuzzy memory of it as I played it one winter in driving rain when it was freezing. If I can get back there on a slightly better day, I'm sure it would jump right up towards the top of my list of favourites.

Cheers,

James

[Chris Ord]

beautiful pics.  thanks, phillip.  the course looks like an absolute brute.  it's a shame they're not playing the ryder cup on the king's.  THAT would be something to see.

[Bob_Huntley]

Phillip, thanks for those wonderful photographs.

I must say that although most golfing visitors to Scotland stay close to the links, a visit to Gleneagles should be on everyone's itinerary. The beauty of the surroundings, the hotel and cuisine was a treat. The golf was a delight, not too punishing and also something of an ego booster, I remember having a a very low score. The blind shots helped, as my shots did not go where I aimed but in the general direction of the hole, which turned out to be spot on.

Then there is the small village/town of Auchterader. Smack on the High Street is the best cashmere emporium in the whole of the Commonwealth. The Scots Ballantyne and Pringle hold their own with the Italian Malos and Bruno Cucchinellis.

An enchanted place.

Bob

[Philip Gawith]

You summed it very well Bob - a very good hotel by any standard, excellent and varied golf, a wonderful setting -  and Auchterarder down the road. As I recall the prices in the shop you mention    fall a long way short of the likes of Ballantyne which is no bad thing!

It helps of course to see Scotland in the sunshine - the weather was less auspicious during my first visit! Reflecting further on the course, you have to say that James Braid (and CK Hutchinson) built a very fine course on a great bit of land. I liked the greens, which have a lot of variety and are tailored nicely to the land (I was  particularly taken with the 15th which comes at the end of a steep downhill hole). There are stand out holes like the 5th which stick in the mind...there is lots of interesting elevation change....lots of blind shots.....lots of direction change.....the sorts of gentle gradients that lend character to the best holes (I think of fairways like 4 and 6) etc etc!

[Adrian_Stiff]

These mowing patterns are becoming more and more the UK norm. The majority like it.

[Andrew Bertram]

Beautiful Photos Philip

I agree with all previous posts that Gleneagles is one of golfs great pleasures. Everything first class from the stunning course you photographed, the delightful queens course is also a lot of fun to play.

The changes in elevation previously mentioned combined with the bunkering and green contouring make the course a joy to play.

Yes it is on the short side for tournament play, but really who is concerned if the score is 20 under. The course would look far more spectacular than the Centenary course for the Ryder Cup.
 

[Jason Topp]

Looking at my recent attempts to photograph Dornoch, I can appreciate how good these pictures are.  Thanks again Phillip.

[Peter Pallotta]

My thanks too, Philip.

This is my first look at the course. What struck me is the pleasing use of trees and vegetation, i.e. they don't frame golf holes as much as they frame vistas...

Peter

[John Nixon]

Help me out - is the general dislike (as I perceive it) for checkerboard mowing patterns on this board tied to anything other than aesthetics?