Clive Smith, a qualified accountant who was a driving force in the golf course development business in the south east in the 1980s and 90s, has died at the age of 82 following a short illness.
A fine golfer in his own right, and a member at Camberley Heath, Walton Heath, Royal Porthcawl and Wentworth at various points in his life, Smith turned his hand to building golf courses after an early career spent working as an accountant for leading car manufacturers Chrysler and Ford.
After turning his passion for golf into a business, he transformed a former racecourse at Hawthorn Hill in Maidenhead into Bird Hills Golf Centre, a 9-hole course which opened in 1982 and is still operational today, and also designed and built an 18-hole course at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Frimley, Surrey, which opened for play in 1992.
Smith also designed a 9-hole course at Windlemere Golf Club in Woking which opened in 1978 but closed in 2017.
PAY-AND-PLAY POLICY
All three clubs were operated on a pay-and-play basis and were designed to target the daily fee golf market. Being of a higher standard than most other public or municipally run courses at the time, the aim for all of Smith’s venues was provide good quality golf at an affordable price, which proved to be a winning formula, enabling many of those new to golf to develop a lifelong interest in the game.
After 14 years of private ownership, Smith sold Pine Ridge to Crown Golf in 2007, while Bird Hills was sold to Japanese owners in 1992.
LAGONDA TROPHY
Keen to encourage amateur golf at all levels and to bring on the next generation of future stars, Smith founded the Lagonda Trophy, an elite boys’ amateur tournament open to players with a handicap of 1.4 or better. First played for in 1975 at Camberley Heath Golf Club in Surrey, where Smith served a club captain, the trophy for the winner was a miniature replica of a 1930s Lagonda Tourer sports car which was Smith’s pride and joy.
The tournament was held at Camberley until 1989, after which it moved to Gog Magog Golf Club in Cambridgeshire, where it is still played to this day.
Past winners include a roll call of players who went onto enjoy success in the both the amateur and professional game, including Peter McEvoy (’80), Russell Claydon (’88), David Gilford (’86), Lee Westwood (’92), Luke Donald (’97), Gary Wolstenholme (’02), Andy Sullivan (’10), Kennie Ferrie (’98), Oliver Fisher (’04) and Dale Whitnell (’08)
This year’s Lagonda Trophy – the 49th renewal – took place at Gog Magog on May 29-30 and was won by Brandon Skidmore from Cotswold Hills with a 72-hole score of 275.
SUCCESSFUL RACEHORSE OWNER
As well as being a keen golfer, Smith was also a huge fan of horseracing and had horses with many of National Hunt racing’s leading trainers, including Martin Pipe, Jenny Pitman, David Elsworth and David Nicholls.
He owned several Cheltenham winners, including Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Master Minded, and the legendary Kauto Star, who won 16 times over fences, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice (2007 and 2009) and five King George VI Chases at Kempton.