Cornwall Golf Union
Martin Bond
I am very sorry to advise the death yesterday of Martin Bond, aged 81. Martin had been unwell for some time.
Martin, in tandem with his late brother Hermon, was instrumental in the development, on their own land, of the courses at St Mellion. The one time pig and potato farmers determined to diversify and in 1974 decided to build a Championship golf course in the heart of the South West.
Their first golf course at St Mellion, the Old Course (now the Kernow Course), opened in 1976, and a year later the Bonds opened the original St Mellion Hotel. In 1978 the course hosted the PGA Cup and a year later the European Tour made its first visit when the Benson & Hedges International was staged there.
By this time, however, the Bond brothers were already planning a more ambitious project. The word is that during the B&H tournament in 1979 one Seve Ballesteros was highly critical of the course (after finishing 59th) and as a result the brothers subsequently approached Jack Nicklaus with a proposal to design for them a second championship golf course in Cornwall. This ultimately became the renowned Nicklaus Course at the site, the first signature course bearing his name both in the UK and outside of America. Since it’s opening in 1986 the course has received much critical acclaim from many quarters in the golfing world.
Martin Bond (left) together with brother Hermon and Jack Nicklaus (picture courtesy of Golf South)
Subsequently in 1990 the B&H tournament returned to St Mellion for a 6 year stint on the Nicklaus Course and saw prestigious winners including Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ballesteros himself. In 1999, Paul Casey defeated Simon Dyson over the Nicklaus to become English Amateur Champion. The Nicklaus Course last staged a major golf event in 2007 when the European Seniors Tour visited for the Midas English Seniors Open with Scotland’s Bill Longmuir the eventual winner.
The Bond brothers owned three Cornish courses at one period with St Mellion, Looe and Lanhydrock in their portfolio. Whilst the former two sites have now moved into different ownership, to this day the family connection remains as nephew Graham and his wife Clare have the reins at Lanhydrock.
Martin was also very much involved in the family interest W H Bond & Sons which was established in 1957 as a farming business. Through several generations the business has evolved and diversified with ongoing interests in timber, civil engineering, plant hire and sales amongst others, with Martin most recently in the post of Chairman.
Martin Bond was a lovely man who enjoyed playing the game. A polite gentle man always willing to listen to and engage with others, he will be sadly missed. We pass our condolences to his wife Angela and the wider family at this sad time.
Funeral details will be made known in due course.
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