Course of the Week: Gleneagles

A greenkeeper at Gleneagles in 1949, using a tractor with gang mower.Photo: Gleneagles

Gleneagles, in Scotland, celebrates the 100th anniversary of its King’s and Queen’s Courses this month.

The courses were officially opened on May 1, 1919. They were designed by James Braid and created using nothing more than manual labor, a horse and cart.

The King’s Course hosted a famous match between the “Big Three” — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player — in 1966, as well as the popular Bell’s Scottish Open on the European Tour from 1987-94, the largest spectator event after The British Open at that time.

The Queen’s Course has also hosted great names from entertainment and sports, including Sean Connery and Alan Shepard.

Under Gleneagles’ new ownership by Ennismore, both courses have benefitted from extensive renovation projects that have seen them realigned to Braid’s original design vision with wider fairways, bringing strategically placed bunkers back in play and the reintroduction of Scottish heather in key areas.