By John Huggan
The outpouring—let’s call it what it was, a deluge—of genuine affection said it all really. The many tributes paid to Renton Laidlaw in the wake of the 82-year-old Scotsman’s passing on Tuesday followed a similar theme. Former Ryder Cup player Ken Brown summed it up best with the last line of his contribution, “love always.” But just about everyone mentioned the good nature that was the hallmark of the legendary journalist and broadcaster’s career and life. And with good reason. Rare is the member of golf’s just-about-worldwide community who has not been touched by Renton’s propensity for kindness, warmth and generosity of spirit.

I am just one of those people. And proud to be so. My friendship with my fellow Hibs fan (Hibernian Football Club), was, on the face of it, a little unlikely. But only if the only Renton you knew was the public Renton, the peerless broadcaster whose deep knowledge of golf and golfers shone through every one of his countless appearances on radio and television. Away from the microphone and the camera he was free to offer stronger opinions than those he revealed in his professional life. I will miss the invariably thought-provoking discussions we had during our regular lunches over the last few years.

The vast majority of those meals took place in the same place. Renton and his sister, Jennifer, live at Drumoig in Fife, a few miles from St. Andrews and maybe 40 minutes from my own home. Most times, we sat at the same table in the Drumoig Hotel, the one by the window. Most times we ordered fish and chips. Most times he drank a ginger beer and lime. And absolutely every time we had ice cream for dessert. Renton liked ice cream. A lot.

I did a lot of listening at those lunches. I would have been crazy not to do so. Renton had an almost endless fund of anecdotes involving just about every significant figure in golf over the last 60 years. He had met them all as his career moved from copy-taking on the Evening News newspaper in his home city of Edinburgh, to “the box” on Grampian Television, Scottish Television and the BBC (where he read the news on the still-running “Reporting Scotland” show every evening) then on to the London Evening Standard as the golf correspondent.

Not long after, Renton was doubling as the golf man on BBC Radio, a gig that eventually led him seamlessly into the role for which he is best known in the United States. Until his retirement at the end of 2014, Renton was the front man on the Golf Channel’s coverage of the European Tour. The introductions to those shows became legendary for both their humour and the often eccentric locations. By way of example, Renton once uttered his opening lines while standing in the middle of fast-moving traffic on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. If he’d had any hair, it would have been raised.

David Cannon
Warren Humpfreys, Ken Brown and Renton Laidlaw broadcasting a European Tour event for the Golf Channel in 2012.

Renton had great affection for two of the four major championships: the Open and the Masters. He first covered the former at Muirfield in 1959 when Gary Player won and he was the first European journalist to make it to Augusta National more than 40 times. As such, he has a parking space at the Masters, as well as a cherished spot on the “wall of fame” in the plush new media center he sadly never had a chance to visit. He was not an outwardly boastful or proud man (far from it), but I know those tributes gave him as much pleasure as the many awards he collected over the years.

In what has become something of a rarity in this modern world, Renton was a genuine friend to many of the game’s luminaries. He could get them all on the phone, just about any time he wanted. But he had his favourites. Ernie Els, who as a young and impecunious pro, lived in Renton’s cottage at Sunningdale for a year or so was one. So was former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher (another Hibs fan).

Renton never married, although he did press the ejector-seat button on a number of engagements in his early life. I could never get him to reveal too much about what went on there, but he always changed the subject with a little enigmatic smile on his face. Which is how I will most remember him.

David Cannon
In 2003, Renton Laidlaw received the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism from then PGA president M.G. Orender.

The last few years of Renton’s life were not particularly easy. There were brushes with cancer. And he had issues with his heart. And at the end, COVID-19 was diagnosed as he lay in the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. But through it all, at least to me, he admitted to little pain or discomfort—and only when pressed to do so.

Anyway, his suffering is over now. And I’m glad of that at least. I’ll miss my friend, as I know thousands of others around the world will also. It was a pleasure to know him.

The post Here’s what made Renton Laidlaw a great golf broadcaster—and an even greater friend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Broadcaster and journalist Renton Laidlaw, affectionately known by many as the “Voice of the European Tour,” has died at 82.

Laidlaw began his career in his teens as a copy taker before becoming a reporter for the Edinburgh Evening News covering golf in 1962. Over the next six decades, Laidlaw became one of the leading authorities in the sport, transitioning into radio and TV coverage while continuing to write. In that time he covered 165 majors, highlighted by 58 Open Championships, and became the first non-American journalist to cover 40 consecutive Masters tournaments in 2014.

Laidlaw also served as the secretary of the Association of Golf Writers and was an editor of the popular “Golfer’s Handbook.”

Laidlaw became more familiar to American golf fans starting in the mid-1990s, when the Golf Channel began regularly airing European Tour broadcasts on the nascent cable network, his distinguished lilt keeping viewers tuning in just a little longer, or a little earlier, with each tournament.

“Renton’s knowledge, insight, wit and wonderfully distinctive voice made him an immensely popular figure in golf and sport in general,” said R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. “He was admired by so many of us who grew up listening to his commentary or reading his reports from The Open and the other major championships. Renton made a remarkable contribution to golf over a long and successful career. He will be greatly missed by players and fans throughout the world and by his many friends in the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.”

Renton retired in 2015 and was living just north of St. Andrews. He had been struggling with numerous health issues and, according to a report in The Scotsman, was admitted to a hospital in Dundee earlier this week when he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Upon news of his death Tuesday, several prominent players and officials connected with the European Tour offered tributes via social media.

I met Renton Laidlaw when I was 7. He was 22 and came to my parents house every Friday for tea ahead of his column for the Edinburgh Evening News. He was my mentor at the start of my TV career. A gifted broadcaster, an exceptional man in every way. Many hearts are sore tonight.

— Ewen Murray (@ewenmurray77) October 12, 2021

Incredibly sad to hear the passing of Renton, wonderful man and great to our game. RIP ?? https://t.co/mUWLuOfjUr

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) October 13, 2021

Oh no thats very sad news. Renton documented my whole career from the 75 English Amateur on! He was the most trusted and fair, in the heat of finishing a bad round if i said something daft he’d say maybe you’d like to say that a different way! A very rare quality! RIP https://t.co/NElrWLzgyu

— Sir Nick Faldo (@NickFaldo006) October 13, 2021

The European Tour is saddened to hear of the death of renowned broadcaster and journalist Renton Laidlaw.

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 13, 2021

So sad today to hear of the news that Renton Laidlaw is no longer with us. What a huge gap in our lives covering golf he will leave. Had so many wonderful memories. But Phil Sheldon’s pic of Renton under the desk commentating @PGAChampionship made me smile @GettySport pic.twitter.com/DoxIOwSVo5

— David Cannon (@Cannonball63) October 13, 2021

The post Renton Laidlaw, voice of the European Tour, dies at 82 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.