The Gleneagles Resort - The King’s Course

About the club

Britain prospered in the years after World War I, and Gleneagles is a living memory of that long ago time. The club was established in 1908 by Donald Matheson, who decided that his Caledonian Railway Company could profit from a destination resort that would bring in (and out again) well-heeled vacationers. The architect chosen for the course was James Braid, who worked in concert with C. K. Hutchinson with input from Matheson himself; the course finally debuted in 1919. The setting could not be more promising: knolls and valleys cloaked in evergreen and birch trees amid gorse and heather extending to reveal a superb panorama in every direction. In a variation on a common sentiment of designers, Braid is quoted as saying of the King's, "God made this golf course, I only found it." The layout is gentle enough for resort golfers but tough enough for numerous competitions over the years.