Donald Barclay Howard (27 January 1953 – 19 May 2008) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

amateur

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. He was regarded as one of the finest golfers of his time and considered a folk-hero. He has had a lifetime relationship with Cochrane Castle Golf Club in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

Life

Howard was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He was married when he was 19, the marriage to Alexandra Lawson Brennan produced two daughters – Linda (b. 1972) and Lorraine (b. 1976). Howard first joined

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...

and later switched to

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

, where he was made redundant in 1993. After that he became a full-time amateur golfer, that and his previous success on the golf course led him to a job in customer relations with club-maker John Letters. Howard was a self-confessed

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

, leading to international exclusion in 1984. After having suffered and defeated

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, he died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in 2008. Howard was a lifelong friend of

Sam Torrance Samuel Robert Torrance (born 24 August 1953) is a Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, with 21 Tour wins. Torrance was a member of Eur ...

, who became a successful professional golfer.

Sporting career

Howard can probably be best described as a true amateur. Working a regular work week and playing golf in his spare time. He might have been a top professional. He was a leading figure in Scottish and British amateur golf. Over the years he has won more than a hundred amateur tournaments. Howard played on the Great Britain and Ireland team in the

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

twice, winning in 1995 at Royal Portcawl. He has also played on the GB&I team in the

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

in 1996. He was the low amateur in the 1997 Open Championship. In his latter years, Howard was a leading figure in the

Scottish Golf Union Scottish Golf is the Sport governing body, governing body for Amateur sports, amateur golf in Scotland. It was formed in 2015 as a merger between the Scottish Golf Union, the governing body for men, and the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, t ...

Autobiography

Howard published an autobiography (with Jonathan Russell) in 2001 called "Out of the rough"Out of the Rough: Booze, Birdies and a Driving Ambition, , Hard cover, 192 pages, Mainstream Publishing Company (not to be confused with Laura Baugh's book called "Out of the Rough" or John Daly's: "My life in and out of the rough") where he describes his personal battles (against alcohol) and his inner demons.

Amateur wins

''this list is incomplete'' *1994

St Andrews Links Trophy The St Andrews Links Trophy is an international amateur golf tournament contested on the St Andrews Links in Scotland. It has been played annually since 1989. The format is 72-hole stroke play over three days. 144 players compete in the first t ...

*1996

*1997 Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship

Team appearances

Amateur *

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 1 ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1980 (winners), 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

(winners),

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing Scotland):

(winners),

References

External links

Obituary
in The Herald
Cochrane Castle Golf Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Barclay Scottish male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Glasgow 1953 births 2008 deaths