A unique company in the golfing marketplace.
Clarion Golf was originally founded in 1973 as Barwell Sports Management, a sponsorship consultancy and event management business. Back in 1973 the company was active in a variety of sports including athletics, badminton, equestrian eventing, football, orienteering, power boating, rugby and snooker. Non executive directors included gold medal winning Olympian Dame Mary Peters, golfer Peter Alliss and Lord Gough.
In 1983, Ian Pilcher joined Barwell from The Dunlop Sports Company, bringing with him a wealth of golf event and player management experience and a small stable of exceptional golfers. Amongst them was Ian Woosnam, who signed a management deal with the company. Ian Woosnam went on to become arguably the greatest Welsh golfer of all time, with 52 professional wins including the U.S. Masters in 1991 and eight Ryder Cup appearances as a player and another as a winning Captain.
During the early eighties, the company was also responsible for the management of the British Caledonian Golf Lions, a team of twelve leading professionals who competed on the world tournament circuit.
The professional players, who wore their own distinctive apparel, included Sam Torrance, Carl Mason, Ewan Murray, David Llewellan, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Brian Huggett, Gordon Brand and Bernard Gallagher; many went on to become household names.