Gleneagles has completed an 18-month renovation programme which takes the iconic Queen’s Course, in the heart of Scotland, back to its design roots.


 

Gleneagles has completed an 18-month renovation programme to take the iconic Queen’s Course back to its design roots.

The installation of the ‘Energy-Passive Ground Water Recharge Pump’ technology on the 16th green of The Queen’s Course – which was originally designed in a natural ‘bowl’ shape by James Braid – resolves a millennium-old drainage issue by siphoning water from saturated surface areas.

The extensive restoration project, which began in 2016, has also involved the lining of 89 bunkers with a specialist Capillary Concrete system – to maintain perfect playing conditions and drainage; modify the visibility of the sand lines on each bunker; and further enhance the aesthetic appeal of each hole.

The project has also seen the course’s fairway lines being taken back to Braid’s original designs.

Scott Fenwick, Golf Courses and Estate Manager, said:

“As with the relaunch of The King’s Course last summer, our work over the last 18 months on The Queen’s Course has taken it back to how it would have been in Braid’s day.''

“Braid’s bunker designs at Gleneagles were based on the courses supporting summer play only, so to bring them back to his original design concept, and make them playable all-year-round, marks a tremendous achievement.''

“In the mid-1980s we began changing the identity of The Queen’s to meet golfers’ expectations at that time, which included reshaping the course until the fairways became really narrow and the original bunkers were moved into the rough. Using archived photographs and Braid’s designs as our guide, we’ve reversed most of those changes, increasing the fairways by around 40 per cent.''

Originally opened as a nine-hole course in 1919 before launching as an 18-hole course in 1925, the Queen’s Course is one of the finest par-68 courses in the UK and has played a key role in the history of Scottish golf, having hosted a multitude of legendary figures, from Seve Ballesteros and Sean Connery, to Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard, the only man to have hit a golf shot on the moon.

For further information about Gleneagles and its current golf and stay and play packages, visit: www.gleneagles.com, or telephone: +44 (0)1764 662231.

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