Exclusive: Golf365 meet Judas Priest

By Matt Cooper and Dave Tindall Last updated: 3rd November 2009

In our most unlikely trip of the year, we travel to Shropshire to meet Judas Priest legend KK Downing and play his own private course!

How our meeting came about - by Matt Cooper

They've sold over 35 million records, they performed at Live Aid, they still sell out huge worldwide tours and their music features on Playstation/XBox favourite Guitar Hero.

Quite simply, Birmingham band Judas Priest are rock legends.

These trailblazers of the heavy metal scene who introduced the biker/leather look that became the standard also once had to fight and win a court case to deny that their music contained subliminal messages promoting suicide.

They are not, therefore, the sort of guys you'd expect to find walking the fairways of the world, discussing the finer points of a good short game.

But such preconceptions need to be ripped up. Guitarist KK Downing is obsessed by the game, as Golf365 discovered firsthand following a curious set of circumstances.

The story began two years ago when I travelled along a country road in the Midlands and was baffled to see an impressive golf course on the other side of the hedge.

Why was I so confused? Simple - because the holes were clearly on a large scale and yet no golf club existed there, no map acknowledged the course and Google provided no clues either.

Finally, earlier this year, an itch was scratched: watching the local TV news I saw KK being interviewed about the mystery course at his Astbury Hall home.

That sent me back to Google and a 1986 Sports Illustrated article which shed light on the apparently incongruous relationship between heavy metal and golf.

Eager to learn more we approached KK and he generously offered us the chance to play nine holes with him when he returned from a tour of Japan.

Despite snatching a few glimpses of the course, on arrival I still half-expected a glorified pitch and putt, but what we discovered is that KK is a genuine golfing perfectionist.

Other than green-keeping staff, I don't think I've ever encountered anyone with such a depth of knowledge about the design, construction and maintenance of a golf course.

He was justly proud of the quality of the grass (an Augusta mix), the drainage (it had rained all night but was dry) and the subtleties of design (different sized greens, contoured fairways and the cunning use of ancient trees as obstructions for errant drives).

Walking the course he even occasionally stopped us to deliver a passionate explanation of a problem he had encountered - and his innovative, skilful solution.

The first nine of his course is complete (an account of our round is below) and after we had finished playing KK then walked us across the second nine which was another revealing experience, giving KK the opportunity to talk through his design principles and prove again that he is dedicated to creating a championship quality golf course.

The long-term plan is for a relaxed membership to have access to the course, along with the residents of 14 exclusive on-site lodges and eight barn conversions which are currently being built.

He may not fit the golfing stereotype but there is no doubt that KK is passionate about the sport and desperate for his layout at Astbury Hall to be the best it can be.

To see more of the course go to the gallery and to learn more about KK's relationship with golf read the interview.

Our round with KK Downing - by Dave Tindall

A string of sell-out concerts in Japan with Judas Priest meant KK had spent most of his time wielding a guitar rather than a golf club in the last month so he was playing down his chances of putting on a show even though we'd read he was a handy golfer.

The course had been shut for a month before we turned up - not a surprise with KK "Breaking The Law" in Japan rather than "Raking The Lawn" in Shropshire - so it was a bit of an honour that he'd got his greenkeeping staff to set it up especially for us the day before we arrived. And what superb condition it was in too despite this hurried brush-up.

While KK dug out his Greg Norman 'Shark' hat, Matt and I practiced on the putting green, still pinching ourselves that we were about to play nine holes of golf with a heavy metal legend.

After letting myself down a little on the first tee by pretending my PING driver was a guitar I probably deserved to hit a poor shot and, indeed, I did - a slice into the rough on the right.

KK didn't fare much better and let out an "Oh my gawd' as he hit a loose one but whereas he recovered to make bogey I made double, leaving Matt to take the honours.

At the par four second KK lost his approach in the thick right rough and couldn't be arsed to look for it so at that point those pre-round fears about his lack of golf appeared justified.

But, as we found out during our day in KK's company, he's not a quitter. He doesn't do 'second best' and suddenly he completely transformed his round.

A superb tee-shot to the left of the flag at the tricky par three third caught the slope and ended up 15 feet away and KK drained the putt for a birdie two.

But rather than playing an air guitar solo in celebration, KK got his head down and thanks to a very, very tidy short game proceeded to par the next four holes.

KK's card from the third to the seventh read 2,5,4,4,4 (sorry to those who were hoping for a 6,6,6 devil sequence) which meant he'd played that five-hole stretch in one-under! Some going even if he was on home ground.

With the weather amazingly mild for late October and KK proving vastly knowledgeable about all things golf, Matt and I began to hit plenty of good shots too. Pars became commonplace and Matt stiffed one eight-iron approach to less than a foot.

Back in 1986 Sports Illustrated had run a piece on KK and fellow Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton, playing a round with them at Hickory Hill Country Club near Biloxi, Mississippi.

KK had played his first nine in 40 that day and was actually just three over through 11 holes when the weather intervened.

Twenty three years later and history was repeating itself. KK still looked like a rock god, the very day we played with him the PGA Tour event in Mississippi was washed out and just as the SI guys had found out we discovered that KK is a mean golfer who thrives when there's an audience (or at least when he knows an audience will be reading about how he played).

Maybe it's just as well he didn't take up my cheeky pre-round offer of playing for cash as he would have wiped the floor with me. But then again would you mind handing over a tenner to a man who played Live Aid and has sold 35 million albums? No, me neither.

Matt Cooper and Dave Tindall