Richard Doyle-Davidson, who has died, aged 75, following a long illness, served in the Gordon Highlanders at the end of the war before entering the world of advertising. It was, however, in the world of golf, a sport that he loved and played with a passion, that he was to make his name and for 17 years he was the Secretary and Managing Director at the renowned Wentworth Club set in 800 acres of rolling woodland in the Surrey countryside.
A keen rugby player, he entered golf club management with Brancepeth Castle in Durham before becoming, for four years, the Secretary at Formby Golf Club near Liverpool. His career was to take a significant transformation in 1977 when he was head-hunted by Leonard Fairclough & Co Ltd, then the owners of Wentworth Club.
Fairclough & Co Ltd had been surprised to discover that in buying out the share issue of Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co in 1974 they had inherited a golf club which had hosted many leading golf tournaments. The 1932 Curtis Cup, The Ryder Cup in 1953, The World Cup of Golf in 1956, the PGA Championship, which the former Open Champion Tony Jacklin had won in 1972, and the World Match Play Championship had all been played on the famous West Course.
There were niggling problems, not least of all when the members tried to buy Wentworth although Fairclough was not interested in disposing of such a valuable asset. So to reassure the members that it did have a commitment to the Club they signed up Doyle-Davidson. It was a master-stroke.
Doyle-Davidson arrived eager to restore some of the Club’s lost prestige. He seized the opportunity when Bernard Gallacher, the highly respected Club Professional, casually planted the seed in his mind that The PGA European Tour, who had commenced a programme to progress tournament golf throughout Europe and to internationalise the game, had outgrown their headquarters at The Oval in London.
Thus an important partnership was initiated when Doyle-Davidson met with Ken Schofield, the Executive Director of The PGA European Tour, and with considerable imagination, as permission to construct a custom-built headquarters in the green belt at Wentworth was not likely to be forthcoming, saw the potential of converting a building behind the main clubhouse into the Headquarters. Today these headquarters, the sale of which to The PGA European Tour was negotiated in the late 1980’s, have grown to house a company that employs more than 100 staff.
More importantly the enterprising Doyle-Davidson had launched a new era for tournament golf at Wentworth which would give the Club a global reputation. The PGA European Tour initially took the Martini International, won by such players as Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman to Wentworth Club and then complemented the autumn extravaganza that Mark McCormack’s World Match Play Championship had become – the 40th successive edition will be staged at Wentworth in October – by taking the PGA Championship back to the Club. The 50th edition of the Volvo PGA Championship, now recognised as the Tour’s flagship event, will be played next May at Wentworth Club which will have then hosted the event 21 years in succession.
These tournaments take place on the West Course which, like the East, has been in play almost since the Club was founded 80 years ago, but it is the third course, the South, which Doyle-Davidson would regard as his legacy. Elliott Bernerd, the Chairman of Chelsfield, had purchased Wentworth in 1988 and in the March of that year work had begun on the South Course which has subsequently been renamed the Edinburgh Course in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh who conducted the opening ceremony. Doyle-Davidson witnessed every stage of development of the course and was seen as the driving force behind its creation. John Jacobs, the first Executive Director of The PGA European Tour and a former Ryder Cup Captain, Bernard Gallacher and Gary Player designed the course which was completed to a standard that Harry Colt, the architect of the East and the West, would have approved. Doyle-Davidson regarded its completion as providing Wentworth Club with three great courses to meet the modern golfing boom.
During that time Doyle-Davidson was paramount in endorsing the arrival of Willy Bauer from The Savoy, where he was Director and General Manager, as the new overlord at Wentworth Club. Bauer saw the wisdom of having RDD, as he was known to all, a man who had done so much for the Club, by his side and Doyle-Davidson did not let him down. He rebuilt the relationship between the new management, the members and its staff. It is now legend that Doyle-Davidson did all these things single-handed: cook at breakfast, the “ugly waitress” at lunch and next moment on the golf course with Golf Courses Manager Chris Kennedy. Bauer saw him as the “magic man”; a man generous of spirit with vision and wit who managed change with integrity. He was, without question, the wise man behind Wentworth’s survival and rebirth.
Doyle-Davidson retired in 1994 and he continued to play golf at Wentworth, where he was made an honorary Member in acknowledgement of his unique contribution, until last year when failing health made active life difficult. He loved his garden, fishing, water colour painting and bridge. He married Barbara in 1965 by whom he had a son, Charles, and a daughter, Caroline.
- Richard Doyle-Davidson, Secretary and Managing Director of Wentworth Club 1977 – 1994, and Member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, born on July 7, 1927. He died on July 2, 2003, aged 75. The funeral will be at 12.00 noon on Thursday, July 10, at St Josephs, Milford, near Goldalming, Surrey.
TRIBUTES TO RICHARD DOYLE-DAVIDSON
Ken Schofield, the Executive Director of The European Tour, said: “Richard showed considerable imagination in making the space available for The Tour to move our headquarters from The Oval to Wentworth in 1981. He was an outstanding person, highly respected by everyone involved in golf, and The European Tour sends its sincere condolences to this wife, Barbara, and their family.
“My friendship with Richard started from the first minute I met him. I had travelled to Wentworth during the playing of the 1977 Uniroyal tournament at Moor Park and, as he did with everyone, Richard greeted me with a firm and friendly handshake and from that moment there was to be no turning back. There was never a question of The Tour going anywhere other than Wentworth when we moved from The Oval. The address is internationally identifiable with the very best of British and European golf, at every level, and for that The European Tour and indeed Wentworth Club have much to thank Richard Doyle-Davidson. I know all our Members and our Staff will miss him, and golf has lost a great man”.
Bernard Gallacher, the former Wentworth Club professional and the Captain of the winning European Ryder Cup Team, said: “I was sorry to hear of Richard’s passing. He was a good friend, a good friend to professional golf and he was instrumental in allowing The Tour to set up its Headquarters at Wentworth”.
Willy Bauer, Chief Executive, Wentworth Club from 1989 to 2001, and his wife, Zdenka, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Wentworth Club, said: “Richard Doyle-Davidson was a man of enormous charm, wit and vision and yet he was never too proud to lend his hand wherever it was needed. Because of his love of Wentworth, the game of golf and his generous spirit, he managed change with integrity and became our mentor as well as a true, trusted friend. Without Richard Doyle-Davidson not only Wentworth, but the world, will be a poorer place”.
John Jacobs, the first Executive Director of The European Tour and a former Ryder Cup Captain, said: “Richard was a natural host who always made you feel welcome. I knew him from the moment he joined Wentworth Club and we became firm friends when I helped in the design of the Edinburgh Course with Gary Player and Bernard Gallacher. He was always a pleasure to work with. Richard was a kind and jovial man and we had many happy times together, especially when he came fishing for trout in Hampshire. Apart from our passion for golf, we both loved fishing and his passing is a very sad loss.”
Julian Small, Managing Director, Wentworth Club, said: “Richard was always so very helpful and willing to give valuable advice and support. He had this wonderful ability to reflect on the traditions of the Club whilst acknowledging he importance of evolving so as to meet the changing needs of the membership.
“He will be sadly missed by all of us.”
