RIP Archie Baird

[Tom_Doak]

I received news a little while ago that my old friend Archie Baird passed away in Scotland this morning.  My guess is that quite a few members of the DG would have run across Archie over the years, either playing golf at Muirfield or Kilspindie, or getting the personal tour of his little golf museum attached to the golf shop at Gullane.  He loved to give those tours!


Archie was a veterinarian and an avid golfer, and he married into golf as his wife, Sheila, is the great grand-daughter of Willie Park.  He started to be a collector of golf memorabilia well before that was really a thing, and his collection was a matter of great personal interest.


I first played golf with Archie in 1991, when as a favor to one of his collector friends, I managed to get us out to play on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island six months before it opened for the Ryder Cup.  After that, whenever I was in Scotland, I would take my associates to meet him and get the little tour, and play golf somewhere, up until a few years ago when his ability to walk the course started to decline.  Indeed, it was Archie who, a few years ago, told me very seriously he wished he had never gotten in a golf cart, as trying to extend his days playing 18 holes had been bad for his general health.


I will share more, later, but I did want to put this news out as Archie had so many friends around the world of golf.  We will all miss him dearly.

[Colin Sheehan]

I first met Archie in March of 1996 whilst on the Yale Golf Team's quadrennial UK tour under the stewardship of Coach David Paterson who was born in Paisley. The last day of the fortnight trip was a 36 match with the Muirfield members. He laughed when Coach told him that New Haven Country Club, which was designed by his wife's grandfather, Willie Park Jr, wouldn't let the Yale team or the students on the course, so Yale had to build its own course instead.

Four years later I got my first tour of the shop with my friend Chris Surmonte and I loved him ever since. In 2002, I interviewed him for The Golfer Magazine in the run-up to the Open at Muirfield. I asked him who he thought might win, and he said: "I consider the tour players trained monkeys. So its like 'which trained monkey is going to win this week?'" ...an element of his Scottish wit.


In March of 2008, he graciously gave the Yale Golf Team a tour of his museum prior to a match with Edinburgh University at Gullane. Much of it is included in the  very low-fi Pennebaker-inspired documentary verite. He appears at the 42:53 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3u_cmWDE8&t=2036s


My condolences to his family.

[Marty Bonnar]

Sad news, indeed.
A true gent. A visit to the museum was a proper treat.
RIP, Archie.

[Tom Dunne]

I'm sorry to hear this, though I had heard he'd been unwell recently.


I'll miss Archie, but thinking of him will always make me smile. I love the way that golf inspires certain rare souls to become folk historians, to hold court, to share the arcana that they've picked up over the decades. For a younger person, I think the details of the spiel matter less than seeing the example of someone who truly cares about golf's legacy. That was Archie--a true caretaker of the game.

I was was lucky to meet him a couple of times at Gullane. The first time was with Lionel Freedman, one of the driving forces of the hickory golf renaissance in the UK. Lionel passed away a few years ago--I miss him, too. Lionel had lived in Musselburgh for years, but he was from London, and Archie and him had a good deal of humorous back-and-forth on that point. I never got to play with him, but I saw him hit a couple of shots one day--in both his fireplug physical build and his golf swing, Archie bore more than a passing resemblance to my father-in-law, who died in 2005 and was instrumental in getting me back into golf when I was in my early 20s. I remember seeing Archie tee off solo on Gullane #1 and being touched by that (purely personal) connection.

Some years back, Archie made a 17-minute DVD of his museum tour. I have a copy, and will look forward to spending a little time with him over the holidays.

Archie was a special man. May he rest in peace.

[Tom_Doak]

I'm sorry to hear this, though I had heard he'd been unwell recently.


I'll miss Archie, but thinking of him will always make me smile. I love the way that golf inspires certain rare souls to become folk historians, to hold court, to share the arcana that they've picked up over the decades. For a younger person, I think the details of the spiel matter less than seeing the example of someone who truly cares about golf's legacy. That was Archie--a true caretaker of the game.

Indeed, I stopped in for tea with Archie and Sheila when I was over for the Scottish Open in July, and he was struggling.


Archie was the one who first suggested me to design the course for The Renaissance Club, back in 1998, when John Ashworth was teying to out the project together.  John asked Archie who would be a good young Scottish architect to design a real links course, and Archie told him I was the right guy for the job!


So, naturally, I copied John on the note to my associates about Archie's passing.  And this is the note I got back from John:


"Thanks for looping me in…….I can’t begin to tell you the influence this man had on my path.


A true Jedi Knight, that will always be close to my heart."


Better than I could write, so I will leave it there.  I am very lucky to have had friends like this.

[Mike Policano]

Sorry to hear about Archie. He led quite the life. I saw David Kirkland this summer and he has some great Archie stories. If you visit the museum, David and his wife took it over for Archie, ask him for some Archie stories. You won’t regret it.


I first met Archie 10 years ago. He was standing in front of the museum with Jim Urbina. I crossed the street, first looking to my left so I didn’t get hit by a bus coming around that corner, to say hello.


I had just met a young woman who was a golf architect from Scandinavia but I didn’t catch her name.


“Archie, do you know the name of the young woman architect who lives one block over facing Gullane #3?”


Archie was holding a Filofax which was stuffed with paper and about 6 inches thick.


Archie replied, “I have it right here”. Archie proceeded to thumb through the pages in the bulging Filofax that he could barely hold with one hand.


Finally, Archie gets to the right page and says, “here it is. Her name is ....”


I turn to Jim, wink and say, “Archie, do you have the names of all your girlfriends in that book?”


Archie immediately replies, “Of course not, this book is much too thin”


Vintage Archie.

[mike_beene]

I too spent a memorable few hours in the museum with Archie. He loved the old stand bag and said Mr. Solheim was surprised someone beat him to the punch. Death is always sad but he appeared to live a wonderful life.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Playing Through by Curtis Gillespie is a wonderful book that talks about spending a year or so in Gullane and playing golf with Archie and a few of the other locals.

[Michael Whitaker]

I had the good fortune of meeting Archie a few times and touring his wee museum with friends. My favorite visit was with Bill McBride. We had great fun laughing and joking with Archie, as you can see in this photo...



While in Gullane this past September Jerry Kluger and I learned that Archie was not well. I'm really glad that David Kirkland and his wife are keeping the museum going. It is one of those rare direct connections to golf's past.

RIP, Archie.

[David_Tepper]

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2019/12/8/rip-archie-baird

[John Butler]

Archie was always so welcoming when my wife Holly and I visited.  Holly had not yet seen Muirfield so Archie said jump in my car for a quick tour.  Archie drove through the gate out to the far end and back, priceless.  Another time Archie took me into the clubhouse to see some display work he'd done.  When we walked into the Secretary's office he was reading something at his desk, he looked up and said solemnly "God has arrived."  That was no exaggeration when it came to Archie Baird!

[Tom_Doak]

Holly had not yet seen Muirfield so Archie said jump in my car for a quick tour.  Archie drove through the gate out to the far end and back, priceless. 

The first time he did this with me, we had played golf with his dog, Niblick, and he put Niblick in the boot of the car to drive out there!  The little dog was barking very excitedly and Archie said, he is excited, he knows where we are going! 

[John Crowley]

I first met Archie in 1992 in the museum after my first round of golf in Scotland, at Gullane no. 1. I was researching Willie Park Jr. who had originally designed my then club, Minneapolis Golf Club.

We later played and lunched! at HCEG. He had boundless enthusiasm for golf and a positive outlook on life, which in part contributed to his longevity. To say nothing about the benefits of daily golf.

I am trying to emulate him in these ways. Only playing five or six days a week, but plan to keep at it until I also drop.

RIP

[Jon Wiggett]

I met Archie during a GCA winter meet at Gullane a few years ago. It was fascinating listening to him go through some of the vast collection he housed in his museum. Good to hear someone else is taking on the collection.


RIP Archie Baird

[mike_beene]

There are very few places that call my inner soul. One is St. Andrews and no explanation need be given. Another is the Gullane, Muirfield, North Berwick strip but the constant centerpiece to that is the little museum. It is a supreme honor to Archie that it will continue. I have got to get back this summer. RIP