An Ocala native, Clarence Camp was the first president of the Florida State Golf Association when the association was founded in 1913. Camp was an avid golfer and although he passed away in 1946, the legacy he left on the game of golf is still felt to this day.
“We’re so proud of the legacy that Clarence left in golf,” the Camp family said. “He loved golf, he promoted it, and this is such a great honor to him.”
Born in Virginia to William Nelson and Texana Camp, Clarence was the eldest of nine children. In 1891, the family moved to Florida just outside of Gainesville where William Nelson achieved great success mining phosphate, building hydro-electric power plants and raising cattle. The Camp family, including Clarence, settled in Ocala in the early 1900s, where members of the family still live today.
Clarence Camp, a golf enthusiast, purchased a nine-hole golf course in 1910 to save it from residential development. Originally opened as Ocala Heights Golf Club, the course was Ocala’s first golf course and thought to be one of the first in the state.
After purchasing the course, Camp renamed it to Ocala Country Club and replaced the original log structure with a new clubhouse that quickly became the social hub in Ocala, where family, friends and local golfers gathered. While the golf course was closed in the 1940s, the clubhouse Camp built remains to this day as a private residence.
Three years after purchasing Ocala Country Club, Camp met with representatives of other courses in Florida at the San Juan Hotel in Orlando and on February 27, 1913, the Florida State Golf Association was formed. In recognition of his standing among Florida's golf community, Camp was named the first president of the FSGA.
Camp served as the FSGA president for 27 years and is credited with helping bring the game to the Southern region of the country. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Southern Golf Association for more than 20 years.
In honor of what Camp did for the FSGA, each year the Florida Amateur winner is awarded the Clarence Camp Championship Trophy.
