Gleneagles King's Golf Course, Scotland

Scotland golf course Gleneagles King's Course, Auchterarder, Perthshire.

Gleneagles is a magnificent golfing experience. It is situated in the middle of Scotland with the Ochil Hills to the south and the Highland mass of the Grampians to the north. The setting is spectacular and it has been said that on a fine morning in autumn there is no more beautiful place to play golf in the world. There are four courses, all linked to the Gleneagles Hotel, of which the King's and Queen's courses, originally designed by James Braid (the five-times Open champion), are the best known.

Royal Birkdale Golf Course, England

England Royal Birkdale golf course .

Royal Birkdale is probably the finest of the championship courses that run along the Fylde coast north from Liverpool as far as Royal Lytham and St Annes just south of Blackpool. It is noted for its 5, 4, 5, 4 finish. The Open was first held here in 1954 and was won by the great Australian golfer Peter Thomson, and again in 1961, when Arnold Palmer won. Palmer's victory was marked by an astonishing recovery shot from the rough at the 15th (now the 16th) when, from behind a bush, he hit the ball to within 15 feet (4.5m) of the pin. (A plaque near the bush commemorates this feat.) Lee Trevino won here in 1971, Johnny Miller in 1976, when Severiano Ballesteros was second. Tom Watson won his only Open on English soil here in 1983 and Ian BakerFinch won in 1991.