POST BUSINESS PROPERTY REVIEW THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014 13 astbury EstatE

the UK’s leading provider of property development finance has teamed up with rock

legend Ken Downing and championship golfer Darren Clarke for a project involving the construction of cabin lodges on Ken’s stunning Astbury estate in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Ken, a passionate golfer, purchased the site in the 80s and has since been meticulously designing the golf course before approaching Regentsmead to help fund the building of luxury holiday cabins around his estate. Ken has further plans to develop a world class spa on the site as well as a hotel and restaurant.

Given the impressive outlay and structure of The Astbury golf course, Ken has secured Darren Clarke as its global ambassador. The course is 6,500 yard, par 71, and complies with USGA standards. It features the latest creeping bent grass greens and is now a permanent fixture on the euroPro Tour. The 2011 Open champion has agreed a three-year deal at the unique and modern non-members’ facility, which is located in the heart of the Severn Valley, Shropshire.

The Ryder Cup star described the golf course as ‘amazing’ and said that it was a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the transformation of The Astbury into one of the greatest inland courses and the other development aspirations. The deal also involves Darren having the Astbury logo on his sleeve and golf bag, and the golfer will attend several events at the course throughout the year.

Darren went on to comment that “A while ago Chubby, my manager, met with Ken and have been discussing this for quite some time. Chubby’s been my manager for 20-odd years, looking after me, and he’s managed to do some wonderful sponsorship deals for me but none more so than this one, because we’ve been talking about it for quite some time and it’s great to see it come to fruition.

“It is a venue, with Ken’s eye for detail, which is only going to get better and better. The course is relatively new in golfing terms – three years old – but I was very impressed with it. It’s in great condition for this time of the year.”

Ken hinted that the PGA has already said if they provide some accommodation the PGA will sanction any tournament that the club can find the funds for. There is planning for a further 30+ units on the site of various sizes and the end goal is to have a Darren Clarke Village of over 200 very high class units.

Ken Downing’s band Judas Priest has sold in excess of 40 million records worldwide since the 1970s.

Ken said at a press conference: “We would like to thank our development partner Regentsmead for their help and support with the development of the Astbury Retreats and we look forward to working with

them for many years to come.”We’ve got an awful lot of things in

the pipeline. For example, we’ve got a fantastic spa facility, that’s being

worked on at the moment, that’s going to quite possibly be the biggest and best, and most futuristic in the country.

“We also have fantastic real estate possibilities, for holiday homes, for people that really have a passion for golf and the countryside and everything that goes with it.

“It would be fantastic if we create a Darren Clarke village, a fantastic opportunity to help people visit The Astbury in the coming years. The aspirations are for The Astbury to become a destination, not just nationally but internationally as well, so it’s all about Watch this Space.

“I also want to say a big thank you to Regentsmead, our funders that are helping us to make this all possible, and so they’re going to be along with us on this very exciting journey for some time and years to come.”

James Bloom, Ce of Regentsmead added: “We are very excited to be part of this unique development and to work with such high profile

legends as KK Downing and Darren Clarke is an added bonus to what is going to be a landmark destination once the development of the lodges and the hotel/spa has been completed.

“There is already a PGA standard 18 hole golf course in situ which was personally designed by KK who has played at most of the best golf courses in the world while touring with Judas Priest. Darren told us personally that the course is of superb quality and he is delighted to be the ambassador for The Astbury which will include wearing The Astbury logo while playing in major tournaments.

“We are looking forward to being involved in the continued development of The Astbury for many years to come and we are grateful to have been given the opportunity to be the primary funder.”

Golf legend joins Astbury as global ambassador for course

Ken Downing of Judas Priest with golf pro Darren Clarke and, below, Ken and Darren with James Bloom (centre), CE of Regentsmead >

The beautiful surroundings of The Astbury Estate >