Will Symons, Sr. founded the former Laurel Heights Golf Club, the first private golf club in San Antonio, which opened in 1911 just north of downtown (the current site of San Antonio College).

Symons gained valuable golf experience in the Midwest and put that to use running his privately owned daily-fee facility, the first in the state.

Laurel Heights attracted many of the top pros of the day from the Northeast who were down to play and visit during the winter months. Jack Burke, Sr., and his brothers Tom and Edmond, all paid visits to Laurel Heights before 1920, and Boston’s Tom Lally was another regular visitor before becoming head pro at San Antonio Country Club.

In 1913, San Antonio’s first city championship was held at Laurel Heights with the San Antonio Light reporting that Will Symons, Jr., slogged through wet weather to capture the first city title with clubs made by his father at the Symons Golf Shop.Birthplace: Stone House, England

Born: March 9, 1868

Died: March 29, 1939