The King's Course, opened in 1919, is a masterpiece of design, which has tested the aristocracy
of golf, both professional and amateur.
James Braid's plan for the King's Course was to test even the best players' shot-making
skills over the eighteen holes. When they play the King's the world's greatest golfers
admire the cunning and craft with which he achieved that goal.
You find out all about it with your first approach shot. If you have driven straight and long
from the tee, you will have what looks like a simple pitch to the elevated green. But
you must be sure to select the correct club, because the shot is always a little longer
than you think, with the wind over the putting surface often stronger than you can feel it
from the fairway. And if you do not make the severely sloping green, a bunker yawns twenty
feet below.
Selecting the right club for each approach shot is the secret on the King's. It is certainly one
of the most beautiful and exhilarating places to play golf in the world, with the springy
moorland turf underfoot, the sweeping views from the tees all around, the rock-faced mountains
to the north, the green hills to the south, and the peaks of the Trossachs and Ben Vorlich
on the western horizon.
All the holes have evocative and pithy Scots names. For example, the fifth, "Het Girdle"
(Hot Pan), is a challenging par 3 with trouble every-where except on the green, while 17th's
name, "Warslin' Lea" (Wrestling Ground), reflects the difficulty so many golfers
have had with this long, sweeping par 4.
