Wrekin Golf Club

Wrekin Golf Club sits on Golf Links Lane at Wellington, in the shadow of The Wrekin itself and next to The Ercall, an ancient oak woodland designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is one of the most recognisable settings in Midlands golf, and the elevated tees give panoramic views out across and beyond the north Shropshire plain.

The club was established in 1905 and moved to its present ground shortly afterwards. The course is unusual on paper: a par 66 of 5,599 yards with six par threes and no par fives at all. The standard scratch of 68 is two shots above par, which is the club’s own way of pointing out that the card flatters it. Undulating parkland and natural woodland, sharp changes in elevation and small, tricky greens do the defending, and both Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle, as Shropshire professionals, have found it harder work than the yardage suggests.

For junior golf that combination is a good one – a course that rewards accuracy and thinking your way round rather than raw distance. The club holds the Women in Golf Charter, and junior membership covers ages twelve to seventeen with full seven-day playing rights.