The Astbury strikes chord with judges

A former heavy metal guitarist has proved he is in touch with the more peaceful side of life after the course he owns scooped a pair of property awards.

Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing is celebrating after The Astbury was named the Best UK Golfing Development and Best Residential Development.

Downing said: “When I was challenged to a game of golf in the 1980s by Def Leppard, I never thought that my life would take the route it has. For decades I focused on the course and the way it plays, but now we’ve been able to take that up to another level with the addition of award-winning real estate.”

Built on a 320-acre, 18th Century site, The Astbury was also highly commended in the Best Golf Architecture category.

‘I was challenged to a game of golf in the 1980s by Def Leppard’ The course has secured USGA-approval, a special achievement for Downing who initially briefed an architect on the course design, but then scrapped the plans and opted to develop the course from scratch.

“In the past three years The Astbury has gone from a modest 9-hole course to receiving international recognition,” added Downing. “Having Darren Clarke as our global ambassador, it’s a very exciting time to be a part of The Astbury team and this will give us the platform to push on to even greater projects.”

Twelve luxury golf homes are set to be built on the estate as part of a project with Birmingham developers Court Collaboration and development financiers Regentsmead.

Open Championship winner Darren Clarke has not only put his name to the scheme but also purchased the first house.

The Astbury will now go up against courses from across the globe to be crowned the ‘world’s best’ at a ceremony in Dubai during December.