The Gleneagles Hotel (King's Course)

The Course Before the Hotel

The King's Course at The Gleneagles Hotel opened in 1919, five years before the hotel itself welcomed guests. James Braid shaped the layout from rugged Perthshire ground, with construction carried out largely by hand and with horse-drawn equipment.

Two years later, the course staged an international contest between British and American professionals, an event now regarded as a forerunner of the Ryder Cup. It became part of a longer competitive history at Gleneagles.

The routing moves repeatedly across ridges, hollows, heather, and gorse, with changes in direction keeping both wind and slopes involved. Pine, silver birch, and rowan frame several holes, while the higher ground opens views towards the Ochil Hills, Ben Vorlich, and the Trossachs.

Every hole carries a Scots name, from Silver Tassie to Wee Bogle. The 13th, Braid's Brawest, was the hole the designer selected as his finest on the course, adding a personal signature to a round already rich in character.