Gleneagles - PGA Centenary

“The finest parcel of land in the world I have ever been given to work with” – Jack Nicklaus

Welcome back, You might be asking yourself has the blog went big time after Royal Troon last week? 

absolutely and this week I have had the pleasure to play the Gleneagles PGA Centenary. Few places in Britain can boast three courses let alone three nationally top 100 courses but then again there's only one Gleneagles. I played the Jack Nicklaus designed, American style inspired PGA Centenary Course. 

Today I was joined by Daniel Paul, Andrew Conlan and Nick Branney. These young men kindly refrained from drinking on the course today which set up for a great matchplay game.

Nick Branney approaching the 1st

The opening tee shot is not overly daunting and anything not leaked too far right will leave an uphill approach to an angled green. The first sign of any drama comes at the 2nd, Wester Greenwells which is named after the ruined croft just above the green, where water lurks beside a narrow green meaning anything struck from distance will do very well to hold the green. These first two opening holes lay down an excellent marker. Holes 3-8 are picture worthy but lack the character of the first two holes. After a short downhill par 3 for the ninth, you are excited at what the back nine holds and the front nine is one of the prettiest golf courses you have seen thus far. 

With many of the greens protected at the front, the key to shooting a low score around the PGA Centenary Course is not coming up short with your approaches. The back nine holes are slightly less interesting than the front however still pose a challenge to an average golfer such as myself. It is apparent due to the layout that the course is built to hold large crowds due to the stadium like hills around the greens which suited the Ryder Cup well.

The fairways were wet underfoot in parts which stopped the ball from running along the fairways. However, despite this the greens were still exceptional. I would like to see how it differs from peak summer. 

The Iconic 15th hole is the where the Ryder cup was seized for Europe in 2014. Jamie Donaldson's Winning Shot at the 2014 Ryder Cup | Highlights | Ryder Cup.

Deer crossing on the 12th hole

Price - 

Taking advantage of the current offer at Gleneagles for £221 per four ball on any of the Gleneagles courses. This is understandably a lot of money but was great to revisit the Ryder Cup venue of 2014 and walk in the footsteps of some great golfers.

Overall -

Overall, This course had glimpses of unique character however the back nine lets it down slightly as well as the wet fairways. It was great to reenact shots that we watched 6 years prior at the Ryder Cup (to a much poorer standard I must add!). In future I will look to play in summer to see it at its best.

Rating - 8/10

Signing off, 

Lewis Wood