Shropshire

Jeremy Ellwood returns to one of England's least populated counties to stay and play at The Astbury and tick a couple more courses off his list

- Jeremy Ellwood

Glancing at my courses played spreadsheet ahead of last autumn's trip with my colleague, Rob Smith, I was surprised to see I'd already played 11 Shropshire courses. But there were still gaps to fill and we chose to fill them with The Astbury, Ludlow and Bridgnorth.

First stop was Ludlow on a sunny afternoon. The club moved to a James Braid creation on free-draining sand and gravel inside the racecourse in 1927, one of several UK courses set inside or close to racecourses.

I've always feared such layouts will be flat and featureless with the racecourse infrastructure too obtrusive, but those concerns proved unfounded, as Ludlow does a fine job of sustaining visual interest and variety throughout, with the racecourse adding to, rather than detracting from, the experience.