Gleneagles Kings Course Review

Nish: 0:01

Every story has an ending. Does our quest to play the top 100 courses in 10 years have a good ending? I’m Nish, I’m Chris, I’m Jim and we’re here to guide you through this golfing journey. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast

Nish: 0:15

Episode episode 31. The King’s Course Glene agles Eagles Review. So did we confirm whether the fairway bunker counts as a fairway

Nish: 0:25

?

Chris: 0:26

yeah, I’ve just lost my minions to go away and it’s 100 confirmed.

Nish: 0:29

I’m gonna get onto you as part of what’s the guy’s name at the pga. Okay, well, let it go I can’t I can’t. I can’t because I was well happy I’d not lost I was just really celebrating because I was like ah there’s no way.

Nish: 0:48

Yeah, um, yeah, not that I’m competitive for you, but we we have anybody who’s listening to this as the first off. Please do yourselves a favor and listen to the queen’s review that we’ve just done as episode 30th. It’s the one just before this one, because we talk a lot about glenn eagles as the uh, the destination resort, the amazing place to play golf that is we’ll probably just from that pull out two things.

Nish: 1:16

One is chris said that he’s dead. Right at the end he said anybody who’s a golfer should put this place on their bucket list. Yeah, it’s a total golfer’s paradise isn’t it.

Nish: 1:27

It really is and I I did my social, personal, social media posts and I did put on that. This has been a bucket list experience for me and I was so glad to be able to to tick it off and felt very lucky to be able to tick it off. The other thing I would just pull up, pull out from the previous one was things like the welcome and the practice facilities and things like that. So you know practices we said about the greens, the practice green with the king’s course. It was more representative yeah, the greens.

Chris: 1:53

The greens were cracking on the king’s course. Actually they were, they were, they were rapid, and they were.

Nish: 1:57

They were definitely better, nick, weren’t they? And again, that practice green. That’s what we saw out on the course, so we could get good pace on it, and obviously you went out to the driving range.

Chris: 2:09

So you’ve got the complimentary golf balls. Yeah, straight complimentary bucket of tailor-made balls.

Nish: 2:12

Branded, nice Branded. Yeah, that’s always good, isn’t it?

Chris: 2:15

I mean, it was a very little bucket. That was the only thing I would say.

Nish: 2:17

Oh was it. It was like a miniature. How about we say in 10, 15 I know more than that maybe like 20, 25, I’d probably okay, yeah, 25, not too.

Chris: 2:29

Not too bad. Not too bad, certainly not one to share. You just look a little bit silly, just walking with you down a little, down a little bucket of balls.

Nish: 2:33

Yeah, taylor may need to step up then, don’t they?

Chris: 2:35

need to provide a few more yeah uh, and then I just also just like to say you kind of alluded to before that, obviously, on the queens I didn’t get a chance to practice and I played relatively well practice the day before the queen. So I went, you guys were still having breakfast. I was like, no, I’m gonna get, I need to scratch my itch, I need to go into my practice today. And I hit the ball absolutely beautifully on the, on the range. I’ve not said this to you but, honest to god, it felt like days of old. I was absolutely nailing it on the range. I was like, ha, fuck you, nish, I’m gonna, I’m gonna rock up onto the first tee and I’m gonna absolutely wipe the floor with you today. Um, what happened then, nate?

Nish: 3:10

so yeah, so what happened? Should we start? Just should we start in the second hole let’s go the first hole and even though I probably have might have a couple of things to talk about before the one thing, then. This is getting spicy. The one thing that I’ll say is thanks, Jim. Yes, we are officially now sponsored by Coca-Cola. There’s a replacement going on, but it’s possibly the widest fairway I’ve ever seen.

Chris: 3:36

I mean, I literally said that, didn’t I? I said you’ll be doing well to miss that fairway. I mean, it was fucking massive. It was like a football pitch and a half, like it was huge like lengthways, really, really wide I’ve never seen a fairway as wide as that in my entire life crazy wide like.

Nish: 3:54

But yeah, I mean I think I’ve got famous last words here. But you know, I think I’ve got over my first tee nerves now. You know for me that I was just like I can’t go wrong with this, even though I’d seen chris just bump his on the left. There was no part of me that went oh no, I’m nervous about it. I was like just absolutely leather it and you’ll be absolutely fine and yeah, I it fairway um, but still shot sevens because I ended up in a bunker.

Nish: 4:20

I’m my nemesis, but there you go.

Chris: 4:22

I mean that yeah, that was a tricky as much. It looks like an innocuous open hole, isn’t like? You got this massive fairway, the green’s raised up a bit, yeah, but actually once you got to like, once you got to that green, like we went through the back, didn’t we, both of us? And from there it was a fucking nightmare yeah, everything’s just rolling away from you.

Nish: 4:40

There’s no way of stopping the ball, which puts the fear of god into you. But you know we did right. So not not a great start, I don’t think. But we got all the normal fineries, so we got teas, got our freebies, yeah, all that kind of thing. You got your yardage book. And we must mention now, I suppose, colin, because you never met colin before.

Chris: 5:03

Never met Colin before. Yeah, I met Colin at Tom Brandinguy’s wedding.

Nish: 5:07

Yeah, and he is a friend of Hendy’s. So we played with Hendy first day, colin second day, and Colin has been a member of Gleneagles since he was a five-year-old. I found out, and it was a great interaction. I hope he doesn’t mind me telling this story, but when we walked rocked up to the starters hut so colin already had his head in the window when he was talking to the starter and I’d got one bit of the car. I didn’t get the start of the conversation. We got the end of the conversation where, so the starter was also called colin and he went oh, what’s your name, colin? My name’s colin as well, and he goes. Yeah, he goes. So colin, the starter said I’ve not seen you here before. How long have you been a member, colin? We were playing with. The member said well, I’ve not seen you here before.

Nish: 6:03

I’ve been a member since I was five At which point Colin, the starter, went oh, ah well, this is my seventh season on the starter and you know, when you just go there was no needle in it at all, but it was just hilarious, it was just like, yeah, I’ve been a member. What was that?

Chris: 6:24

nine times longer than you’ve been working here, mate, so how about you just dial it back a little bit?

Nish: 6:29

yeah, and, and you know we’re gonna be all right, but he was great obviously being a member, says that she didn’t play there that much.

Chris: 6:36

He prefers to go to muirfield and play over at muirfield, doesn’t he? Yeah, he gave us a couple of muirfield teas, didn’t he? Yeah, and he said here, here you go.

Nish: 6:42

That is a proper tea but colin has has done, he’s caddied there so caddied there.

Nish: 6:49

Yes, when he’s a kid growing up his brother was a scottish amateur champion yeah, and his great goal for his brother who played there in the scottish open wow yeah, um, two people have messaged me on tiktok after seeing the video that I did with colin on it right, just he’s in it for like two seconds at the start going. Oh I can’t believe you played with him. What a great guy. He was a great golfer in his day all this I was like okay, tell me what your name is, I’ll let him know who you are.

Chris: 7:18

So I messaged that to colin.

Nish: 7:19

He’s like oh yeah, I know them yeah yeah, I mean amazing that you know, I love, I love that kind of thing. Yeah, and he was, he was this good jim. He was stood so I’d be over a putt and he’d be stood like 20 yards away, yeah, on the side and be like that’s gonna break like a time you bought two balls left to right.

Chris: 7:42

He just knew every inch.

Nish: 7:43

He knew every green, yeah, every read, every, every little thing and we’ve always said, like one of the benefits of playing with somebody who’s a member of that club or knows that club or course, well, yeah, is that they think they say the phrase that just settles everything down for you, which is, and we’re all errant off the tee, the phrase is it will be all right over there, because you know there’s no nervous walk up to your next shot. You just go yeah, that’s fine, I’ll find it, it’ll be okay, yeah, and that I think that’s a real unsaid benefit of playing with somebody absolutely.

Chris: 8:20

But I think I’m not sure we’re gonna. Well, yeah, I don’t think there’s any way we’re going to play any course in this top 100 with someone who knows the course like that, that knowledgeable. He knew every blade of grass on that golf course. It was remarkable, considering he doesn’t play there very often. He was saying, I mean, obviously he played there for a long time, so over the 60 years he’s been a member he’s played it a lot, but he just knew every little turn, every little nook and cranny. It was remarkable, wasn’t it?

Nish: 8:46

Yeah, it was, and he was a top top guy.

Chris: 8:50

Brilliant guy to play around the golf. Good sense of humour.

Nish: 8:52

Yeah, Just got involved in everything that we were doing. You know, even like birdie dances or like that he was all over everything I was going to say, did you? Do that on the Queen’s course? No, of course not. I didn’t mate. He doesn’t do it. Nah, he doesn’t do it, it’s a ball sport.

Nish: 9:08

That is why it’s not hit the fairway on the 18s but on the Queen’s right. No, mate, You’re getting no dice off that. But yeah, Colin was a top guy. He was a top, he was a brilliant, brilliant person to play with and I would love to at some point have a round of golf with him again. Oh, absolutely yeah, because it was that good fun.

Chris: 9:35

I mean, he’s given us an offer to go up, hasn’t he, and try and talk some of the rounds up. Yeah, absolutely.

Nish: 9:40

And I hope that opportunity arises again. Yeah, definitely, it was a great laugh, it was good banter. So that was Colin and then, yeah, I suppose we’ve bet against a course a little bit on me now. So I played pretty well. I had a really good run on the front nine, so I was like it.

Nish: 10:01

Yeah, after the first I got a seven on. The first was par four. We both got sevens. After that I’ve just got a smattering of bogeys, a birdie in a couple of pars, so I I went out in 42 seven over. I was after the first first nine. Yeah, and normally at that point that’s when it starts to go to shit, isn’t it?

Nish: 10:25

for me, because it gets in my head like, oh, the score’s good, but actually I’ve I’ve kind of kept that, kind of kept that going. I’ve got to three to twelve and I was only. I was uh, what’s that?

Chris: 10:36

I was nine over after 12 holes, yeah, um, then I had one blow up that was fine, but I did the same, exactly exactly the same pattern on the Kings as the Queens first seven holes. Blow my card right out the water to start with, and then steady the ship and start playing some actual golf, but we ought to talk about the sixth hole.

Nish: 10:55

We’ll talk about the sixth hole specifically, just because that’s a birdie now but also there’s quite a funny moment on this. So so chris had hit his drive and it had gone out right over this bunker and it looked like it was gonna it was gonna be okay, and actually even uh colin was was like it should be fine there. So we got there and I don’t think it was was it wasn’t fine it wasn’t fine.

Nish: 11:17

Uh, anyway, mine I’d absolutely creamed my drive right down there. I couldn’t have placed it more in the middle of the fairway on that hole and and collin had sort of nudged it up, but it just got. But it wasn’t that short of mine really. So while chris is fanning around in the in the rough, I was like I’ll just, I’ll just hit mine. So I set it all up and I hate my, hit my fire. And my aim was this is one of the few holes where actually I think glenn eagles had quite a few holes where you could. There wasn’t anything in front of the green so you could just roll it all out.

Nish: 11:49

So I was like I’m going to hit a nice comfy six iron and I’m just going to let it roll on. No, I think it was five iron, let it roll on. And I hit it. And as soon as I hit it I was like, oh, that looks good. Oh, that really good. And I think a little bit of wind just caught it and it just drew a little bit and it ended up probably two or three yards short of being pin high, but it was just on the left edge of the green.

Nish: 12:16

I was like got an eagle chance here. So I stepped up and colin had done exactly the same thing. So we were both on for an eagle and it was like, oh, here we go, this would be good to get on video, wouldn’t it? So I did my, my chip and I was just I do this. All the time I was like, oh, here we go, this would be good to get on video, wouldn’t it? So I did my, my chip and I was just I do this. All the time I was like I just I’ll just knock this in, shall I? And then I hit it and I did my seven iron putt jim, like I normally do, and I did that and I was like that and it was bringing back shades of wood, all you know. I was like that’s online that’s absolutely right and it was, and it finished.

Nish: 12:44

it finished that short of the hole so I wasn’t going to do the birdie dance, I was giving it full on.

Chris: 12:49

Glenn Eagle. Yeah, oh, glenn Eagle I didn’t even think of that.

Nish: 12:53

I was doing the Glenn Eagle, yeah. So we knocked in our birdie putts. I mean, colin, he just steps up and goes punk like, drops it dead, yeah, to the hole, doesn’t he just yeah, I mean, that’s his experience. I think that isn’t it his experience, and also, I think, being old enough to just not give a shit about your score and actually that’s fine, I’m just here to play and it’s great.

Nish: 13:13

Uh, so that was my highlight of the of the front nine I was about. The second highlight on that same hole was so I was like chris has gone out wide right now. Normally the camera that I’m filming on the whole round that’s on my car. Now we’re not good enough, are we? Generally where we’re always down the middle so we can just follow each other around and film each. So it’s it’s a bit niche, heavy the the footage and sadly for everyone. But because I’d got my drive in the middle and I’d played my second, I was well happy what was going on and I could see what was going on on the side I just got my car and I just turned it sideways as chris hit one and it just went straight into more trees and he goes.

Nish: 14:00

Oh, then he hits it again, but you’re straight again so he whacks it out and I went.

Nish: 14:06

You’ll be pleased to know that’s all on film and he’s like, and after that I wasn’t bothered, but that was my personal highlight of the front nine. I mean I know I waxed lyrical about the queens because the thing out of the tin that was my you preferred that one, didn’t you On balance, I think I probably did prefer the Queens as well. I think I’ve described some of the calls of the Queens quite well. Do you remember much of the Kings?

Chris: 14:40

Certainly, the opening holes were great. I think that first hole is great, this massive big fairway, big elevated green, which is actually really difficult. When you get to, it’s kind of really sloping from front to back and if you, if you’re kind of slightly in the wrong place, then you end up in trouble. Second hole can I remember the second hole?

Nish: 14:56

second. That was where I topped my drive, I think, and that was all.

Chris: 14:59

Again, that was all oh, yes, you can write up, then you can plane back down into the.

Nish: 15:03

It was all downhill, wasn’t it that hole yeah, that was a nice hole to be fair. Third was the one where it was a bit of a blind t-shirt the third was that really undulating, wasn’t it?

Chris: 15:13

that was a nice hole. I really liked that.

Nish: 15:14

One didn’t play it very well that reminded me a little bit of the first at sylith, when you’re approaching the green, because it was like right to hill and then it sort of drops after the hill I mean it was bigger landing area. I mean that first hole, green, at Sillith. I don’t know how I scored a five on that hole because you play your approach, shot over this thing and then all of a sudden you get to the green. It’s just like heather all around it.

Chris: 15:34

I just agreed.

Nish: 15:36

But yeah, it was. Yeah, that was a very interesting hole. Yeah, I couldn’t figure out whether it was a good hole or not. Though the third, the third Imagine you’re playing a tee shot. Okay, now I get it. A blind tee shot is obviously that’s exactly what it is. You don’t know where it’s going to land, whatever. But it kind of wasn’t a blind tee shot, because it was really hilly, really, really hilly, and then it was really hilly, really, really hilly, and then you played up this little bit. It wasn’t little. You played up this hill, undulating all the way up to it, and then it it like plummets and then rises up really high and then beyond that, over the back of that, is the green, okay, which is then sunk down, sort of thing. So you’ve got this big elevation. It’s almost like a big.

Chris: 16:20

it was dune almost in the way it’s like most of the queens was kind of you had to do it.

Nish: 16:25

I think you had to walk it, didn’t you, because I think I do your ball in it knobbed mine right into the middle of the hill.

Chris: 16:30

Yeah, I had to play. Shut off it.

Nish: 16:31

It was like, and I was watching you with your trolley and it was just like he’s like yeah, it was a pretty vertical trolley wasn’t it. It almost felt like if I was to the untrained eye that feels like, well, they’ve just temporarily put that grass there while they’re putting some kind of featuring. Yeah, because that’s what it felt like, you know there’s obviously you fill that with water. That was a nice lake before the you know it was.

Nish: 16:56

It was a weird thing, so I couldn’t figure out whether that was a good hole I, I like that hole.

Chris: 17:01

I did I like that hole. Yeah, I did I like that hole, I liked it. I think that in terms of the vista I think that was, I think that was it set you up nicely for the Kings, I think.

Chris: 17:13

I think it was a bit bigger and a bit bolder and a bit brasher than the Queens course, a bit longer, the hills were bigger, it was a bit more difficult. I think that kind of sets you up nicely for the tone of the rest of the, the rest of the course, and then we hit the fourth.

Nish: 17:28

So I think, I think by the time you, played those three holes.

Chris: 17:31

You knew you weren’t. You weren’t playing the queens, that’s for sure. You knew it was a totally yeah, it’s a totally different beast, it wasn’t just. You know it’s the same piece of land, right, but it wasn’t just another golf course cut into the same like it was. It was almost like two completely separate experiences, wasn’t it?

Nish: 17:45

in terms of the actual golf itself, and maybe now the naming of these courses makes complete sense, because it did have that feeling of it’s everything that the pre the queens is, just everything’s bigger and longer, it’s by a factor of whatever. Yeah, so it’s almost like it’s uh, I don’t know if it feels like we’re almost gender stereotyping here, but you know you’d go like little sister, big brother, yeah, it’s that kind of thing, you know, and and yeah, yeah yeah I think, the fourth hole is like 400 and what was the leach ravino’s?

Nish: 18:20

the?

Chris: 18:20

hardest, the hardest par 4 in the world, and it’s a long old track up that uphill as well, that, and it’s fairly heavily bonked up.

Nish: 18:28

I don’t think it was. It wasn’t even par. I mean I got a 5 and I didn’t hit particularly good. Yeah, I mean I had a birdie putt right, you had a birdie putt driving a 4 iron and a birdie putt, so it’s.

Chris: 18:39

But yeah, still felt quite like if you’re having a bad day, you could have a really bad day on there, couldn’t?

Nish: 18:45

you, yeah, you could. And then again, jimmy hit the first par three and like, these par threes are magnificent, really, are this?

Chris: 18:53

yeah, again, this is the same term didn’t they, I think, as the previous day, this is an upturned bowl essentially so. Everything’s perched up there and you’ve got a few bunkers at the front head girdle, this one, wasn’t it? What did? What did you say that that meant? Is it hot?

Nish: 19:08

hot pan, yeah, hot pan. So it resembles that an upturned hot man. So up pan. Sorry, I should say so. Yeah, and it was satisfying to actually hit the green on that one, uh. And then we talked about the sixth already with the eagle chance. Don’t think I’ve ever had that had an eagle chance and then we had a bit of a run here, so we both parred and we both. We both parred the eighth and the ninth. Now the eighth, I know, was a par three because that was a long one as well. I think we all hit the green and that was a green that slowed right the left.

Chris: 19:45

I was close to the hole there as well, wasn’t I? You were? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nish: 19:49

Imagine getting stung for two rounds on consecutive days. I don’t think so anymore, though I think so. Oh, mate, you better believe I’d have been telling everyone yes, you got a hole in one Twice. So yes, you got a hole in one twice.

Chris: 20:04

So yeah, that would have been imagine that I might just finish my top 100 experience off altogether all my golf money for the next 10 years as well, bar manager’s like back again, are ya?

Nish: 20:15

that was so funny. Yeah, I don’t remember the 9th, though don’t remember the 9th. You tell me anything remarkable about that one?

Chris: 20:25

Don’t think so. It’s a short par 4. Oh, hang on Short par 4 up to the little slightly raised green.

Nish: 20:30

Oh yeah.

Chris: 20:31

That was.

Nish: 20:31

I ran out of fairway, didn’t I? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I like hit this drive and it like because Colin went your line is that tree, like just pointed at a tree and he, that’s that’s your line. So I’m like, okay, right, fine, so do that and hit the drive and it was arrow straight on the tree. You know, it’s good that never happens what’s happening here. And actually we hit it. I was like I haven’t seen it down and I don’t know it is, it’s, it’s just a little flick of the wedge. I’m thinking it’s somewhere in the fairway, it’s not, it’d run out of fairway at the end and it was just in the house just going up to to where I was, like I can’t believe it.

Nish: 21:06

That’s incredible, because that was actually a bit of an intimidating drive, because there was a lot of danger everywhere, I think, in that you just couldn’t see the fairway at all, could you basically? No, you couldn’t see a fairway at all. It was just pick a line and yeah, and hit it. Uh, so yeah, like I said, I went out in 42, chris was out in 46, so I was four shots better off than Chris on the front nine. I was playing like an absolute dog on the front nine, wasn’t I? You didn’t, yeah, with a 46. So, you know, add some context, shall we do me and you just go.

Nish: 21:38

Let’s see how this ends yeah me and you were just like I’d do with a 46. What are your back nine highlights, chris?

Chris: 21:43

my back nine highlights yeah, yeah, me and you were just like all right, yeah, I’d be with the 46.

Nish: 21:43

All right it’s fine, yeah, what are your back?

Chris: 21:45

nine highlights chris my back line highlights see I like the par threes on the back nine.

Nish: 21:52

I enjoyed yeah, I, I I did struggle with a little bit with this course because I didn’t I felt like it didn’t have, for it didn’t have, the highlights reel that the Queens did.

Chris: 22:06

Yeah, I know what you mean. In terms of the visuals, it definitely didn’t have that. I can’t remember many holes on the back. Nine, yeah, I think, certainly after nine, which I thought was a good hole, sort of 10 through 13, 14, I don’t really remember particularly well, apart from 13. Sorry, when you get to 13. So that’s what was 13?.

Nish: 22:26

Because I’ve got an 8 on that one. 13 was Braid’s Best basically, we did like that one didn’t we? Yeah, it was beautiful.

Chris: 22:34

So we put that in for Dream 18. We did, we did put that in for Dream 18. Because that off the tee is visually stunning Lots of undulating fairways, some fairway bunkers, and you’ve just got the mountains in the background. It’s pretty beautiful.

Chris: 22:50

Yeah, we were pretty solid I think 13 and 14 actually were really good holes. So 14 was that drivable par 4 where the green’s just kind of set in the little valley with the trees behind it. So we both ended up in the bunker on the left-hand side, both had a crack with our driver honestly, it’s like I can’t remember the remember that, no, that was a really beautiful. I like that again because you birdied that the 14th.

Chris: 23:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah, because you were in the. You were in the trap just ahead of me and I was in the one just behind you.

Nish: 23:17

The longish bunker shut out yeah, what are the highlights that we got from the back nine? I thought actually this course was consistent front and back, whereas in the Queens the front was amazing and then the back was really good but just didn’t have the highlights real.

Nish: 23:41

I mean, we’ve nominated three holes for Dream 18 of the front nine on the queen’s course, which tells you everything you need to know more picturesque of the two courses yeah definitely definitely I feel like a bit of imagination’s gone into that because it’s a short course, yeah and I think we both, I think we both ultimately enjoyed the queens more, didn’t we?

Chris: 23:59

I think you so probably more so than me, but I think we definitely both preferred the Queens, I think I mean for context.

Nish: 24:07

We’ll give you the scores then, jim, for context. So Chris went out in 46. I went out in 42. Chris came back in on a par 35 in the last 90. 36 is plus one back nine, including two birdies there. So plus two on the back nine inies there. So plus two on the back nine in the queens and plus one in the back nine at kings finally playing some golf.

Chris: 24:29

Yeah, it was great that was great again. Great to watch yeah, the consistency was back certainly on there I can’t say back it’s never been there.

Nish: 24:38

Yeah, so then the queen’s back nine, if you look at your run from, let’s say, hole 8, from 8 to 18, that 10-hole run, 11-hole run. Sorry, I should say you are one over. Yeah, I mean that’s fantastic, isn’t it really? Yeah, yeah, certainly moving in the right direction. Not to be scoffed at.

Chris: 24:58

Yeah, no, absolutely. What did you?

Nish: 24:59

score. What did he score? Um, I was 42 on the way out, so seven over, and then I was 48 on the way back, had a couple of big blow-up holes, um, which didn’t help me at all, uh. So totals chris was 82, one shot worse off than, uh, queens and I was a 90, so I was two shots better off and and that was it was a par 70, so I was plus 21, plus 20. My handicaps would have been plus 21 for that course. So, yeah, I played better than my handicaps. I think I did. No, we were level on points. Actually, we were 38 points each on that.

Chris: 25:40

So, yeah, we both played better than our adjusted handicaps for the course didn’t feel like that to you, didn’t definitely didn’t feel like that to me. I felt I played poorly on the kings, I’m honest.

Nish: 25:54

I mean it did come together towards the back nine but I felt like I had a really good round actually and and we both we hit actually because col Colin left us at hole 16 and I mean he was so good with like lines and advice and all that kind of thing. And actually the 17 and 18, they’re pretty straightforward in terms of yeah, you can see where you’re going, but I thought I could have lost like my walking stick or something.

Chris: 26:16

I was like where’s the? Guy to tell me where to hit, but we’ve been giving these course guys on the queens literally like every shot, every hole out. I was like trying to figure out where I’m going on the kings. I didn’t use it.

Nish: 26:27

We had our walking talking.

Chris: 26:29

Yeah, colin was just literally giving us advice on every shot, wasn’t?

Nish: 26:31

he yeah, and he left it. We’re like, oh okay, you don’t shut a seven straight after you know. Two, two rounds of golf and a dinner and quite a lot of drinking, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah one thing, so I uh, I played, I felt like, in fact, my stretch here.

Nish: 26:55

So from hole number two onwards, from hole number two till two to twelve, I was nothing worse than a bogey. That includes a few pars and a birdie. Birdie shots in there. Take away my blow-up hole eight on a par four. Again, it was bogeys all the way, and then just the 17th was was a triple. So I had two blow-up holes and that’s that’s done for my score. Um, I had two pretty massive bloody marys for breakfast which I couldn’t, which I was a bit driving back I was driving back so I couldn’t partake and I didn’t have any practice apart from some pudding.

Nish: 27:34

Yeah, I was feeling mega, you were yeah well, to be fair, so like.

Chris: 27:41

So this is quite a good setting for the day. So the morning I had my, my practice, anxiety had reached like fever pitch. That morning I was like a bit hungover and I wasn’t feeling well and I was like I’ve got to go and practice. We’re playing with colin and don’t know, colin, I need to go and get some practice. So I was like, right, I’m just gonna leave you guys at breakfast and I’m gonna go for some practice. Initially, breakfast, another two bloody marys.

Chris: 27:59

I went out to the practice range they were very large very vodka filled bloody fairies as well but yeah, and then so I went to the practice range, had half an hour, hit some balls and then, yeah, just to put that into the context of those first two shots we talked about me kind of missing this massive fairway and it just absolutely nails on straight down the middle. I was like, oh fuck, like this, this isn’t, this isn’t feeding well into the. I felt mega.

Nish: 28:23

So I was like, what am I going to have for the turn? I’m going to have a gin and tonic.

Chris: 28:29

I need to keep myself tucked in.

Nish: 28:31

I should have just said can I have a Bloody Mary from the? Breakfast station please yeah, it was Take a flask of. Maybe I should stick it in a flask or something. Honestly, I felt great to that whole round, like not and this isn’t a bloody mess.

Chris: 28:47

I enjoyed that whole experience again a highly playable golf course a lot more playable than I thought it was going to be and I think colin colin said basically they’ve cut all the gorse out yeah, so actually, because just to keep the pace of play up I just got rid of all the rough and got rid of all the gorse.

Chris: 29:04

So actually I think if it hadn’t have been because it was all just like wood chippings, where it had all been cut- down if that had all been gorse, that would have been a very different experience, I think yeah, but having said that, I’ve looked at my course tracker now because it tells me where I’ve played each shot from my mind now, there wasn’t that many places I was in. I was in deep, I probably reckon I would have lost three balls I think, I played three times off that gorse chipping that I think that.

Nish: 29:33

Uh, sixth, you ain’t shooting an eight there if there was gorse there, because yeah no, that would have been.

Chris: 29:39

I mean, it might have actually helped me because you might, you would have to drop out. Yeah, it might have actually helped me, you might have to drop out somewhere.

Nish: 29:45

Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, sorry, I’ll say that. Yeah, I don’t know what I’m talking about there. Yeah, I thought it was, and actually, if they’ve done it for pace of play, that’s a great idea, because we were on on both courses. We were on time.

Chris: 29:59

Exactly on the full hour holes.

Nish: 30:00

Yeah, so they’ve done that well, and it was. It was packed. The kings was packed because we were watching group after group coming in when we’re having a drink afterwards. Yeah, and everyone’s doing the same thing as us. You know, at the 18th they’ll have a little picture because it was, it was the same boat yeah, very few people who were just like yeah, whatever, I’m playing, whatever.

Nish: 30:20

Yeah, uh, everyone’s having a little picture with a flag and all this sort of stuff, but it was so, yeah, just group after group, a lot of americans, yeah, there was a lot of americans playing.

Chris: 30:30

Yeah, I mean just, you just noticed that throughout the hotel and everywhere there’s a lot of americans yeah, it’s the first time we’ve really experienced that, isn’t it?

Nish: 30:35

yeah, not really seen that anywhere have we? Yeah, nobody played anywhere that’s been.

Chris: 30:39

No, it’s kind of on a tour order, and it’s the time of year as well.

Nish: 30:43

Oh, is that right.

Chris: 30:44

It’s getting into that time of year, yeah, getting into it. Oh, summertime, it’s a weather game.

Nish: 30:48

Yeah, that’s true, that’s true. Oh no, trump International in Aberdeen, oh mate, especially if there’s a tournament on the week before.

Nish: 30:57

Well, let’s keep our fingers crossed. We can actually get to play that, yeah, but uh, yeah, I’d say playable still again, that one I I just it didn’t have the highlights, real, uh, I’ve tried to think today whether I was. I felt like this about these courses because I played the queen’s verse and the king’s second, but I don’t think it was that I I liked the character of of the holes that they constructed on the queen’s course and I do think that is because they’ve gone. It’s a shorter course. We kind of need to make it a bit more interesting. Yeah, and let’s you know, even like that, my favorite, my favorite hole in that course, actually, I’m not. I’ve said I’m saying this now, I’m not nominated for dream 18, but playing wise, I think it’s because I’m saying this now, I’m not nominated for dream 18, but playing wise, I think it’s because I played it well as well. Yeah, that’s why I probably tempered it and said it’s not a dream 18 hole, but that it must have been the ninth, that dog leg uphill sweeper for me. Yeah, it was a great hole of golf.

Nish: 31:58

Yeah, you hit your drive. You know you pick a spot. Yeah, you went right to the dream. I mean that was right, right, but you, you pick your spot, you know, you pick a spot. Yeah, you went right to the dream. I mean, that was right, right, you pick your spot, you know, and you hit your drive and then, as you come around the corner, then, like, the green reveals itself and it’s like it’s all there for you to see. You could, you know, you can, yeah, that and it’s a challenging then approach shot.

Chris: 32:17

Yeah, that was a great because we had a bit of a chat this morning, you and I. I initially sent my rankings over to you with kings above queens, but it’s a real marginal thing for me and I think. But then I kind of reflected on it a little bit and I think I think the thing that put me off the queens a little bit was the greens.

Nish: 32:33

I think if those because those greens were like overly slow and felt like it could have been same quality as the king.

Chris: 32:38

They weren’t, they weren’t, they weren’t the same quality they weren’t put me off a weren’t. You’re right in terms of ranking the golf course.

Chris: 32:45

You know, yeah, yeah, of course yeah, for its beauty and for the holes themselves, I think it was way better. That’s understandable. So I think, yeah, it took me a bit of reflecting, I think, to like, because we were so happy when we came with the queens right, we were like fucking buzzing, like this is incredible. So I think, um, I think yeah, yeah, I think that was the only the only drawback. Really, the queens kind of, and then the kings was, the kings was in much better nick, I think, wasn’t it? It was just generally, um, I thought I’ll tell you what I didn’t like.

Nish: 33:13

On both courses the flags were all the same color.

Chris: 33:18

Yeah, I mean, I guess there’s a problem when you’ve got three golf courses on a on a thing. You can’t have nine different colored flags.

Nish: 33:24

The starter said something on the first day. I think he said something like oh, they’ve not done the pin positions that are in the book.

Chris: 33:31

So normally what you would have is you would have, you have a little marker.

Chris: 33:34

It’s like everything’s pin position one, two or three, exactly, yeah, and one is such a thing on this course, because of the time of year we’re playing it, they’ve got the pins on rotation, so they’re moving them around throughout the day, so they can’t have a pin position for the day. So that’s what you would normally have, is you would? It’s not what I paid for. You pay an extra 130 quid to play the month after, whether or not on the rotation.

Nish: 33:53

Yeah, yeah is it that? Yeah, that didn’t stop my enjoy, but it’s just nice to have a visual market.

Nish: 34:00

It’s like, oh, it’s at the back or it’s you know yeah, we kind of had to almost look and when you got raised greens and whatever it’s a bit difficult to figure that out because I didn’t didn’t stop me, I think, shooting to you know, I’ve done a 19 or 92 there, jim, pretty happy with that. Yeah, I’ve actually come away from that. I went there with a handicap that was 16.6. I come back with a 16.4, for God’s sake, it’s going the wrong way. You’re going up a little bit. I think I’ve come down to 10.1. Yeah, chris is you should do that, put yourself down. But now, overall you are. Now You’re 40 shots better off than me after eight courses. So that’s five a course. Yeah, which is that’s?

Chris: 34:46

about right. That’s only about right for this. That’s about right for handicap, isn’t it? Yeah, true, true, but I feel like that’s most of that is in the more recent courses, I think, isn’t it you?

Nish: 34:54

say this Silith was your only bad round.

Chris: 34:57

Yeah, I think you’ve forgotten in the middle you actually still played really well on some of the earlier ones. You played better than me and probably outscored me, I think, on some like SLA. I don’t think I did no, I didn’t we were level on SLA.

Nish: 35:07

Oh, we were, yeah no, no, ed Sillith is the only one that I’ve outscored. Yeah right, so that five per round, that’s it’s. Which is bizarre difference, isn’t it? Five, six, the system works, the system.

Chris: 35:22

I know everyone’s been panning it but it turns out it’s all right. You just gotta average. Average it out over 100 rounds.

Nish: 35:27

Yeah, all you need to do well, we haven’t heard from jim for about 50 minutes, so what do you think jim’s asleep?

Chris: 35:33

long day. Um, I think one of the challenges was the aggregate score over the two rounds, wasn’t it?

Nish: 35:41

yeah, so I think think Chris won that Comfortably, comfortably, yeah.

Chris: 35:47

There’s a good If we did use Stableford. How would it?

Nish: 35:50

So Stableford, we drew on the King’s course, and on the Queen’s course Chris won. He got 36 points, I got 29.

Chris: 36:01

So he would have been plus seven I’m crying into your spilt milk.

Nish: 36:06

I do feel it should be handicapped, adjusted though, I think I think a gross score eventually is now bearing bearing out. But if you look at, look at it, you know, after the first five or six he gave me a 10 shot advantage after the first hole, first course.

Chris: 36:20

That’s why I think I think if we carry on doing gross, you’ll just we won’t we’ll we’ll. The wedge will just get bigger and bigger yeah, yeah, I think we’re getting to the point now where I’m because I’m practicing a bit and actually playing a bit of golf.

Nish: 36:33

It’s, it’s my story, my story has been reflected in that and I think that’s just. That’s the levels that we’re at yeah, you know I’m not, um, I’m not perturbed or bothered about it. That’s, that’s my level of level of golf. But it’s interesting that it is actually showing as, after averaging out those eight rounds, that that’s, that’s. That’s where we’re at. So yeah, that’s how bad sylith was for you, chris.

Chris: 36:57

I would imagine if you went back there and played it now and remind you it’s gonna be interesting because I think sylith going to be somewhere near the top of my list and it’s going to be it’s the worst round he’s ever played. I can’t say I can’t. I can’t, for the life of me, think I’m going to score. What was it? 113? Anywhere else, yeah, I could have to have.

Nish: 37:24

We’re going to reach year 10, yeah, and finish everything. We’re obviously we’re obviously never going to play in a course twice. That’s just stupid. Why would you do that?

Chris: 37:33

yeah, we hit sillith and solway golf club on perhaps the most freakish day yeah ever right, you want to go back and play in the no, no, no, what, no, no, what oh no, no, no, absolutely no way what, what I’m so what I’m asking now is that that those conditions?

Nish: 37:55

I mean once in a blue moon, yeah, and you missed that chance to score at sylith, yeah, is that something that you have even? Considered before, or not really, no, no, no, because it was that bad. It was the erasure from a memory. He’s not sleeping tonight, though He’d be like fucking bastard.

Chris: 38:13

There was no chance of me scoring that day. I was so so.

Nish: 38:15

This is Jim. This is the start of the psych out it is Psyching him out now. You missed the golden opportunity to shoot low. There was no wind, no wind, and it was baking up. That is the day. That’s the day you go low. True, sillith and Solway, not for me. Home turf, it was home turf as well. It’s basically like he’s playing Old. Trafford United fan Rubbish.

Chris: 38:38

Yeah Right, in terms of Did we actually find out which was the signature hole?

Nish: 38:44

It was the well, we don’t know, but I think it was the 18th. It was 18th, so the king’s hey, yeah things hey you. Well, you’re of scottish descent so I’ll go with your pronunciation. But columnist, I told you so he was gone by. Then he did say about the names though, didn’t? He said they’re sort of not really making much, they got rid of them off the t’s and they which was a bit naffed about because he was like, you know, we really like them.

Chris: 39:06

You know, yeah, scottish names, and they’ve kind of taken them all off the tees, which? Doesn’t make any sense or is it the agio thing?

Nish: 39:11

yeah, he was saying oh yeah, that was it so. So colin was great. He gave us some great history of the course and stuff like that, so it’d been bought out by the agio ages ago, wasn’t it? Yeah, yeah, they did it for a long time, yeah, and I think it was about six or seven years ago.

Chris: 39:27

Somebody else bought it yeah, a family, wasn’t it yeah?

Nish: 39:29

some family bought it and they’ve got a range of other hotels as well. Yeah, and they could say you listen to a podcast and they have basically invested in every single square inch of that resort to get it up to standard Diageo, basically run it into the ground and the reputation had gone and all this kind of thing. Basically run it into the ground and the reputation had gone and all this kind of thing.

Chris: 39:49

And that must have coincided with when they did that renovation, then yeah, and obviously the rider cup being there as well.

Chris: 39:52

I think they’ve invested quite heavily in the rider cup as well, hasn’t it? The spa and all that kind of stuff? Yeah, so I mean you could, you could tell when we were there, like everything I was kind of it was all new. I was going there thinking, oh you know, a few people had told me that I’ve been to glenn eagles and it’s a bit run down and kind of old and not what you’d expect. But it wasn’t like that at all, was it?

Nish: 40:09

the signs was a complete brand new and all just looked absolutely, even though even the waterways gym, like in between hotel and and dormi and all that kind of you know, it was like the resin had all been redone, just fresh sort of thing, like springy on your feet, it was. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, it was great so. Yeah. So we did do the. Yeah it was great, yeah, it was great, so. Yeah. So we did do the 18th signature hole challenge.

Chris: 40:32

What do you want to know? Someone got a birdie, didn’t they? Someone did get a birdie, yeah. What do you want to know?

Nish: 40:41

Everything. Well, it was least number of shots to the greens there. Yes, I can’t believe this. So I hit my drive Gone left, and I thought, well, I’ve still got a chance here, go on, let’s nudge it back into play. Nudge it back into play Not very well, but it was all right. I had 100 yards to go to the green. So Chris is in the middle of the fairway because he crapped a long drive and he hits his approach shot and duffs it and I’m thinking, oh, hello, I think I could tie this here, nice one.

Nish: 41:18

So it’s 100 yards, it’s a bit downhill and it’s. This green is massive. I think the green is bigger than the footprint of our street. I think it’s probably cricket pitch over there. Right, it’s massive, it is mass, like massive, so you can’t miss it. I did, but in a different way, so I went okay, I can. I should really be tying this signature challenge because he’s just tough days. He’s gonna hit the green now because it’s okay. I should really be tying this signature hole challenge because he’s just duffed it. He’s going to hit the green now because it’s huge. It’s even bigger than the fairway that he’s missed. But he’s going to hit that green, no chance he’s going to miss it.

Nish: 41:59

I was like this is it? This is my Martin McCutcheon moment. Get in there. Seven iron comes out. I’m just going to punt it up there, I’m just gonna do a classic niche bump and run. And it was absolutely dead on pace, dead right. And then all of a sudden it went into this little dip and it disappeared outside and I was like, oh, what’s going on there? And then came out of the dip really slowly. I was like, oh, it’s slowing down. Slowing down, oh no, it’s slowing down too much.

Nish: 42:32

It was a bit short, the green it wasn’t that short, because I could put the next one couldn’t I short enough to not be on the green.

Chris: 42:41

Yeah, and I was like oh, I can’t believe it.

Nish: 42:46

I should have tied that one. That should have been two times.

Chris: 42:48

I mean you literally. I mean I guess you. Obviously you weren’t thinking of the challenge at that point, which is ridiculous, Nish.

Nish: 42:54

No, I knew what I was doing.

Chris: 42:54

The pin was at the front when he was playing to it, but I mean behind it literally you could have hit. I reckon there’s probably five or six clubs you could have hit like full tilt from what I was doing.

Nish: 43:04

I knew exactly what I was doing. My intention was always to run it like that. I just did not know there was that and when I walked up to it the dip was pretty big.

Chris: 43:12

You couldn’t see it, you just couldn’t see it, but what I’m saying is you could have played four or five different clubs from that point because there was so much yardage behind the pin to the back shot to play.

Nish: 43:28

It was the right shot to play. I just got done over by the dip so you lost. So I lost that one.

Chris: 43:34

Essentially, you lost again, yeah, yeah, two in a row. I lost that one Long story short and actually the good thing was that Chris nailed did nice little birdie to finish with, yeah it was absolutely fantastic that.

Nish: 43:47

Yeah, it’s a good finish, because I didn’t. I was freaking terrible and I put in on the last I, I think the, I think the love of the of the game had gone on the last two walls I had run out of energy and I think the two rounds had caught with me.

Nish: 44:03

At that point I was like I need to, I just need to end this now. I’ll finish it, get off, can’t have another drink. I was at that point actually because I was, so I think I was just knackered at that point and I went. I’m playing for my score here, I’m trying to break 90. And I’m royally fucked that up tonight.

Chris: 44:26

I should have walked away with that. I got up tonight.

Nish: 44:27

I should have walked away with that. I got a 90. I should have walked away with the score under 90, really on that. However, still, what a day.

Chris: 44:38

Neither of us got ourselves on the board, though did we.

Nish: 44:41

No but because they were playing that scratch tournament. It was 70 and 71 were the low scores, so I don’t think we’d have well.

Chris: 44:49

I’d have played my back nine to my front nine or whatever. But yeah, you might have had a chance you don’t have to go back.

Nish: 44:55

You can all pick and choose our holes.

Chris: 44:57

I played really well on that one. Benny and I did that on the other one. Yeah, that’s the game you’ll have to. I’m quite happy to go back next year and try again.

Nish: 45:06

What about ratings then? What are we saying? So, clubhouse, obviously we don’t need to go through that again, do we? It’s fine the same, but what is your course rating? What did you rate?

Chris: 45:15

Queens. So I rated Queens an 8. Okay, so I went for 7.5 for the Kings.

Nish: 45:22

You went. Oh right, okay, so you went slightly lower for Kings. Yeah, I did. What’s caused the change of heart?

Chris: 45:30

Because I Again, we’ve talked about it a little bit in terms of on the pod, but the enjoyment that I think I got out of the Queens was greater than I got out of the Kings, I think. Practically speaking, I think Kings was a better golf course. Yeah, but I enjoyed the experience of playing the Queens probably considerably more. Yeah, but I enjoyed the experience of playing the Queens probably considerably more yeah.

Nish: 45:52

Considerably more course itself yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s where I’m at, yeah, that’s where I’m at.

Chris: 45:57

So I think the Kings is probably a better course on paper, but actually I think the fun factor of the Queens just ramped it, just elevated it up, Just go there and just you know.

Nish: 46:13

If you’re really good, you could go there and shoot low. Oh, definitely, yeah, if you’re not very good, you can go there and still feel like you’ve had a good round of golf. Yeah, and you know, walk away and go. Yeah, that was, that was great fun, all part of the experience. I’m just wondering if we would have if we did it the other way around yeah, like if we’d have flipped it, yeah, possibly would we have walked away.

Chris: 46:31

Going the kings was amazing, very possibly because you’ve got that mega experience and like we’re getting there, just got to the hotel, we’re excited. So maybe that does factor into a little bit what have we chucked?

Nish: 46:41

one on the dream 18 from the kings yeah, braids, braids 13 was it. So we chucked one from the Kings. Yeah, we chucked in three on the Trot from the Queens. I mean, it was that front nine. Jim was a highlights reel of visually stunning golf. Generally, I think we played some stunning golf towards the end of it. Yeah, it was just a a nice experience that. You know. This is after the weather was better on the second day.

Chris: 47:14

Even the weather didn’t temper that and change that but I think also as well as I was saying this earlier, wasn’t it when you’re playing with someone else we’re playing with colin, it was great and it was great company and you kind of take it in a little bit less in terms of the course, because you’re kind of focusing on, you know, just having a good laugh and playing whatever and having a chat, and you don’t necessarily kind of stop and well, we only see each other in the tea in the green yeah yeah, see you later, mate.

Nish: 47:40

Yeah, I’ll catch you at the next tea. Yeah, yeah, so I suppose that’s that’s kind of what happens, okay, so you’re, you’re rating, yeah, I think overall, I’m saying as well, I’m agreeing with that, I’m saying for me, I’m saying the Queens was better than the Kings, as we’ve explained.

Chris: 48:00

But I think that puts them in third and fourth.

Nish: 48:02

for me Third and fourth right, okay, so very close between the two. Yeah, pretty close, alright, that’s Third and fourth. Okay, so very close between the two. Yeah, pretty close. Yeah, all right, that’s interesting to know. Well, I think we should urge people to listen to the Queens. We have talked a lot in this as well. However, I think we covered a lot of the experience stuff that we did at Gleneagles in the Queens course review. So please go ahead and do that and also share the episode. Like the episode, subscribe to YouTube. Youtube. We usually release the YouTube episode the night before and it’s a bit more uncut than the audio version. So, full of bloopers, full of bloopers. Yeah, I think that should be about us, done, jim is there anything?

Nish: 48:52

else you would like to know. No, I think we covered you are you are mr average golfer who goes. You know, what do I want to know about glen eagles? As a result, let’s do a last minute. Ask us anything about the whole experience. It it could be anything the hotel, the golf course, whatever. Is there anything that’s like a burning question, jim? No, did you get your car back from the valet?

Chris: 49:16

Did you steal all the toiletries? Oh, they paid for them, though. You can’t, you can’t.

Nish: 49:21

They charge your room if you take the toiletries, so they refill the bottles if you take them. They charge your room room, which is fair enough.

Chris: 49:29

I took the four post to bed, though, jim. Yeah, they didn’t say anything about that didn’t say anything about that, whatsoever but we should also say that we got a nice little room upgrade as well, didn’t we?

Nish: 49:41

we did. Yeah, this is a totally shameless plug, but my wife is an independent travel agent and she managed to get us an upgrade, so that was very welcome. How?

Chris: 49:50

much for a pint of lager.

Nish: 49:51

What was Lucy’s? What was Lucy’s phrase?

Chris: 49:55

about the room I didn’t drink any of those either. What were you drinking? Cocktails and wine.

Nish: 50:00

Essentially, I think the listeners out there will want to know how much a pint of lager was.

Chris: 50:08

I did pay £18 for a sandwich. Was it a nice sandwich?

Nish: 50:11

Oh, my goodness, you did. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris: 50:15

What you chose. That.

Nish: 50:19

The sandwich things.

Chris: 50:21

It was Hobson’s choice. There was only like three sandwiches on there, I didn’t fancy the other two.

Nish: 50:26

There was a roasted Mediterranean vegetables and pesto and mozzarella.

Chris: 50:30

Yeah, would have gone for that. I mean, I went for that. No, I found a pesto and sandwiches for some reason, are you not? Yeah, it doesn’t do it for me.

Nish: 50:37

I really absolutely stunk of pesto after I got that. Then there was, what was it?

Chris: 50:49

pea and hummus. And then there was another one that was a bit obscure. Yeah, there was a camera where this one was, but actually the sandwich was incredible. I mean not 18 quids worth of incredible, but it was pretty nice. How many KFC can? i 1 g

Nish: 50:54

you get for 18 quids yeah, I mean 18 quids is pretty mental for a sandwich but again, we said we knew what we were in for, of course, which is why we stayed at a premier in the night before. Yeah, um, wonderful, okay, thank you, gentlemen. I think between the two parts we’ve covered everything there. So, um, until next time on the top 110 gold podcast.