EVEN now when I think about Barclay Howard, it brings a smile to my face. Barclay was one of the characters of Scottish golf with a mischievous sense of humour as well as a fantastic player. News of his passing earlier this week was a terrible blow for our game. We can ill afford to lose men of his talent and experience.
I spoke on the phone to Graham Rankin about Barclay yesterday and he was so choked up he could hardly speak. Graham told me the only reason he reached the top level in amateur golf was because of the encouragement and support he'd received from our
friend. Barclay pulled him along.
The first time we met was at West Kilbride when I was a teenager. I'd won boys' international caps and was on the verge of breaking through into the full Scotland team in 1993. Although I'd heard a lot about him, our paths hadn't crossed before. When we were introduced, he was wearing a lime green cardigan with a pink shirt underneath. My first reaction was 'what?'. But as I got to know him, which didn't happen straight away, I had a lot of respect for Barclay as a man and a golfer.
He wasn't slow to make a blunt comment. I remember after we'd played together, he took me aside and told me: 'You need to sort out your behaviour on the course'. I was 18 or 19 and his comments left me tongue-tied. He was looking at me straight in the eyes. I asked him what he meant. He told me I was a talented player but that I needed to get a grip.
Barclay then recalled a story from his younger days about how a senior player had made a similar observation to him and the comments had improved his game. Of course I listened and took heed. I knew he was saying what he did because he wanted me to get better.
I would play with Barclay a lot for Scotland and GB&I. He was always the elder statesman in those teams. That was another of the remarkable things about him: this was his second time round as a Scottish internationalist.
As well as being our father figure, he was great company. Barclay was a funny guy. If you were in his company, the camaraderie was tremendous. As a human being, I always regarded him as a non-conformist. He was a guy who didn't fit into the usual mould.
As a golfer he was a gloriously straight driver and his short game was subtle. Some players charge the ball into the back of the hole but he preferred to hit his putts softly and let them drop in the front of the cup and no more. You would often think he hadn't hit the ball hard enough. But it would still go in…
Along with the silver medal he won in the Open at Troon, the Walker Cup match at Porthcawl against an American team which featured Tiger Woods was one of the highlights of his career. There were fantastic players in our side – Padraig Harrington and David Howell spring to mind – and a Scottish contingent which included Barclay, Graham, myself and Stephen Gallacher. As always, Barclay was serious about the game on the course, but he helped us to enjoy the experience off it. For me, he was a leader and so inspirational.
When I won the Amateur championship at Hoylake in 1995, I met Barclay in the last 16 and his generosity was unbelievable. It was almost as if he wanted me to win more than he did for himself. You'd have thought he was my caddie with his words of encouragement. I've come across a lot of interesting people in golf over the years. But I don't expect to meet another Barclay Howard.
The full article contains 658 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
