A sportsman to the last, Tony Bensted died on Thursday after suffering a heart attack playing the 11th tee at the Whitstable and Seasalter Golf Club.

An ambulance rushed him to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford but all efforts to save him were in vain.

As a mark of respect, the golf club flag flew at half-mast last week.

Only two weeks earlier, Tony, 75, and his wife Pat – who had spent most of their married life in Whitstable – had moved to a new home where Tony enthusiastically prepared their house for the next chapter in their lives.

In the spring they celebrated their golden wedding.

Tony met Pat, then 15, when she was a pupil at William Gibbs School, Faversham, and they married at St Alphege Church, Whitstable.

The youngest of the three boys in a sport-loving family, Tony was born at Plantation Road, Faversham, at the height of the Battle of Britain on the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.

The family moved to Cromwell Road, Whitstable. They had to be rescued from the 1953 floods.

They resettled in Boughton-under-Blean.

At Faversham, Tony went to primary schools at Ethelbert Road and Davington and at Whitstable he was one of the first through the doors of the newly-opened Sir William Nottidge School. He then went to Canterbury Art School. His first job was an apprentice compositor at the Kentish Gazette in Canterbury.

After their marriage, Tony and Pat lived in Chingford for several years and he worked for Austin Knight and Gerrard Advertising as a graphic designer until they returned to Whitstable.

For a number of years Tony was a studio manager at Pfizer in Sandwich and Sericol in Broadstairs before setting up AB Associates in Canterbury and then Tony Bensted Design.

Both Tony and Pat were keen members of Whitstable and Seasalter Golf Club and were former captains of their respective sections.

Tony also played football for Whitstable Old Boys, squash and tennis and enjoyed water-skiing, windsurfing and sailing his beloved Oyster smack Plum.

He also leaves a son Noel, daughter Emma and two grandsons.

His funeral will take place at Barham crematorium at 10.40am on Wednesday, October 14, followed by a wake at Whitstable and Seasalter Golf Club.