Golfer Magazine, The Midas touch
It's fair to say David Gold has it all. He's one of the country's richest men, co-owner of a Premiership football club, king of adult entertainment, owns an airline, has a loving partner and is father of two successful and glamorous daughters. Oh yes, he's also got a golf course in his back yard. Vince Ellis reports.
A few holes on the golf course that surrounds his beautiful Surrey home and you realise there is far more to Blues chairman David Gold than meets the eye.
Saviour of Birmingham City FC, Mr Gold is also king of adult entertainment, head of Gold Air and one of Britain's best business brains - as well as one of its richest.
Those are the public faces of Blues' top dog. But 18 sundrenched holes of golf turned into an afternoon of discovery.
The softly-spoken father-of-two, who was born into East End poverty and rose to become a multi-millionaire, is also a nature lover, an award winning pilot, a stickler for manners, a proud patriot, a devoted dad and even a golf course designer.
Oh yeah, and he can't stand Mick Jagger getting a knighthood.
How did this golf course begin life?
When I moved here builders told me to knock the house down and start again while most of the land that now makes up the course was thick undergrowth, nettles and vegetation. Instead, I decided instead to renovate the house and the course started out as just four holes.
Now, 10 years later, the house looks wonderful
It started out as four holes and I have used my imagination to improve it all the time
and the course, with cunning use of a few different tec positions, has 18 holes.
I am proud of them both. The course looks better all the time and even though the house was dilapidated I couldn't knock it down because of its beautiful design.
Who designed the course?
I did. It started out as four holes and I have used my imagination to improve it all the time.
I played a course in Nantucket in Massachusetts, which was only nine holes. But with different tee positions you could create 18 completely different holes. That made me realise the potential I had with the land around my house and I went to work.
