Cameron Smith says Wantima will always feel like home

CAMERON Smith may live half a world away but in his own quiet way the champion golfer continues to give back to the club he says will always feel like home.

Golfer Cameron Smith in action during the final day of the Australian PGA Championships at RACV Royal Pines Resort on December 3, 2017. Photo: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt.

CAMERON Smith may live half a world away but in his own quiet way the champion golfer continues to give back to the club he says will always feel like home.

The Florida-based winner of last year’s Australian PGA Championship says his earliest memory of Wantima Country Club is playing golf with his dad, Des.

“I remember Dad had screwed on a 90mm plumbing pipe on the side of his golf bag for my tiny clubs. I think I would have been about five or six at the time,” Cameron recalls.

“I fell in love with the game and loved spending time with family and friends at the club.” And to Cameron the club and its members are like family.

“I still regard Wantima as my home club, mostly because it is. I have memberships elsewhere but I’ve been there for so long and also it’s where I spend all my time when I’m home. I love getting up there seeing the people I grew up knowing. It just feels like home to me and always will be,” he says.

A young Cameron Smith at the club in 2008.

One of the club’s strengths and something Cameron is passionate about is junior player development. The Cameron Smith Classic was held for the first time late last year, with 127 children taking part.

When Wantima Country Club junior committee president Ken McKay asked Cameron if the club could hold the competition in his name, he didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“Australian golf has some great ambassadors but I couldn’t go past Cam. He just jumps at every opportunity,” Ken says.

When asked how Cameron inspires the next generation of players at the club, Ken says my notebook is not big enough.

He cites a couple of examples of his impact in the past 18 months.

Ken says he asked Cameron to present trophies at a junior tournament in 2016. There were 25 young players there that day and Cameron was playing a round with some friends.

The youngsters watched his group approach the 18th hole and went crazy as he came in. He stopped and signed autographs. Many of the children were asking him to sign their hats, and one father asked if Cameron would be around in the coming days so he could sign his son’s hat.

In an instant, Cameron removed his own hat, signed it and handed it to the man.

Straight after the PGA last year, Wantima was holding a competition which was open to children and an adult of their choice. At the PGA, Cameron was doing interviews when Alex Clark, 10, asked if he would be his partner for the competition. They paired up and came second.

Cameron Smith and young playing partner Alex Clark.

“I try to do as much as I can, whether it’s the tournament we have now or just being around the club, I love seeing young golfers give it a crack,” Cameron says.

“I think golf in general teaches kids a lot of things they can take into life other than just the game, things like etiquette, honesty and politeness.”

Ken agrees and says juniors have been an important part of the club since its inception. “We’re not developing golfers, we’re developing good people. If they happen to be good golfers down the track, that’s a bonus,” he says.