Short and sweet: The Queen's golf course at Gleneagles in Auchterarder, Scotland

AUCHTERARDER, Scotland -- To some, the Queen's Course at Gleneagles is the best layout at this luxurious resort on the edge of the Scottish Highlands.

To others, it's the resort's third-best track behind the historic King's Course and the Ryder Cup venue, the PGA Centenary Course, mostly due to a lack of length. The Queen's plays less than 6,000 yards.

Wherever you fall in the debate, there's no questioning the pedigree and charms of the Queen's.

Golf greats such as Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino, as well as celebrities Sean Connery, Burt Lancaster, Bing Crosby, Jackie Stewart and the moon golfer/astronaut Alan Shepard have teed it up on the friendly and fun par 68.

The James Braid course dates to 1917, meaning the Queen's will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017. The terrain is delightfully more delicate than the King's (translation: No blind shots) but still offers the same surreal scenery of the surrounding mountains and glens. Many of the par 4s are championship-caliber distance. Scoring is more readily available on the short par 4s, where holes no. 4, no. 8, no. 11 and no. 15 all run less than 355 yards. At 252 yards, the 15th hole is reachable for everybody.

The first three par 3s are solid if unspectacular, but the final two are fantastic. When the pin sits on the top tier of the green at the 180-yard 14th hole, here's guessing that nobody in your foursome makes par. The 204-yard 17th hole finishes at a kidney-shaped green that runs away from the tee box.

Once the round is over, most golfers realize that Gleneagles' Queen's Course is Scottish golf royalty in every way.