Richard Goodale R.I.P.

[Gib_Papazian]

Gentlemen,


I am profoundly saddened to report "Rihc" passed away yesterday in Scotland. Speaking personally, he was a close friend of many years - and a rare combination of soulful kindness to everyone he met, while being the single most erudite person I've never known.

This is a terrible loss to Josie and his two daughters, Caitlin and Melissa, both superstars who made Rich incredibly proud. I was fortunate to spend an evening with him recently and though a bit tired from battling several years of health issues, was still the same razor sharp, cheeky, insightful and impossibly modest man I loved and admired with all my heart.

Feel free to recount any "Goodale stories" - we all have one. There was nobody even remotely like him - and I feel blessed and honored to have both walked the fairways of life and sat at his table in our Treehouse. Our personal nicknames for each other were "Brains" and "Brawn" - which is the world's easiest riddle to solve. 


Those who corresponded with our resident  genius will recognize his customary salutation:

Sláinte   


P.S. As I promised Rhic, in his honor, I will be wearing Stanford Red at the USC game, September 7th. 


 

[Craig Van Egmond]

What devastating news.. Rhic was a good man. 

We first met at Bandon Dunes. After the rounds, we went into town and had dinner with his father who was a fascinating person himself.
He will be missed.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I don’t regret much but I will regret this:


After many years of wishing to meet who I considered the most valuable poster on this forum, I exchanged very few words with him when we finally did at the Irish BUDA.


RIP and thoughts with those that loved him.

[Gene Greco]

Very sad to hear.


I called Rich in 2001 to tell him me and the family would be visiting Disneyland and would he like to meet for breakfast at our hotel which we did.


Asked him if he wanted to play a certain golf course in Southampton which he had expressed interest in seeing at some point in his life.


He was a bit dubious of my offer but rolled the dice and decided to take a chance.
Shortly thereafter I contacted Tom Huckaby for the same reason and the two headed east.


A night or two before they arrived I received a call from Dr Geoff Childs asking if he could join us and the four ball was complete.


Rich and the others were impressed by the golf course to the point he said it was "almost" as good as his beloved Dornoch.


Together we all enjoyed some east coast pizza for lunch and reveled in our golfing experience.


Afterwards I drove and led them to another Top 5 golf course in town which they wanted to take a peek at. They stared in silence on the old gravel two-space parking lot which overlooked the entirety of course. Rich said this place looks special to which I said grab your clubs and lets go, we tee off in 15 minutes!


The three of them howled in delight at our good fortune (which i had, of course, pre-arranged) and played our second magnificent 18.


At the end of the day he admitted liking the second course more and yielded a "best I've played in the US."


But he still gave Dornoch the edge..

[Bob Jenkins]

I just saw this thread after posting on the other relating to Rich.


Major condolences to Rich's family. I, like the others have many great memories of Rich both in the U.S. and Great Britain.


A very good man.


Bob J

[MCirba]

R.P.I. Rihc.

[Pete Lavallee]

Very sad news indeed. My condolences to his family.


I first played with Rich in KP I at Barona Creek. He was paired with Jaka B against me and my buddy Sam. I distinctly remember him chipping in for birdie from the back of the 16th green with a 7 iron, nobody could hold that green in 2002! A huge loss for both GCA and mankind.

[Michael Graham]

This is such terribly sad news. Rich was the first person to get in touch to welcome me to the site after I finally registered back in 2014. It’s still a regret that we never managed to schedule a game at Aberdour or Mortonhall despite a few failed attempts due to inclement weather.


We did finally meet at the Notts Buda a few years ago and I got to see Rich’s stellar golf game in person. He was a fine golfer and even better man.


Thoughts and condolences to his family.

[Tom_Doak]

Aw, I was afraid this was the end result but even then, I did not expect things to go so quickly.  My condolences to the family.


I had the great fortune of being Rich's partner for one of the best rounds he played in his life, at Painswick in a long-ago BUDA, when the two of us [mostly Rich] somehow managed to defeat two much better golfers, including the former Walker Cup player and captain, Peter McEvoy, in a best ball match.  There were lots of birdies, a couple of near aces, a couple of par-4 greens driven, and generally a lot of thrills you would never find on a more conventional course.


I know it meant a lot to Rich because he always managed to mention what a good greens-reader I was, just for helping him make a couple of his birdies.  I'm glad I was able to be of some help.


I have had several old golfing friends pass away in the last three or four years, and the end is seldom easy, but those who can tell their golf stories right up to the end seem to have a decided advantage in dealing with the inevitable.

[Kevin_Reilly]

A pair of losses recently in our group.       Slainte indeed from this Cal guy. RIP.

[Gib_Papazian]

Gene,


I spoke to Rhic right after that trip - and he actually had the temerity to assert that Friar's Head had more interesting putting surfaces than my beloved NGLA. No, I never told Uncle George about Rich's lone indiscretion, but every time Brains wanted to get my goat - usually after several executive libations - he'd make some disparaging remark about C.B. . . . . . .


God, I already miss him terribly.

[Thomas Dai]

RIP Rich. My condolences to Josie and family.
atb

[Bill Brightly]

Rich's review of Royal Dornoch:


https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/dornochgoodale/

[Mike Sweeney]

Rich's review of Royal Dornoch:


https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/dornochgoodale/

and to tie the other thread in here for archival purposes -


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,67373.0.html


Royal Dornoch has been on my list for years, and obviously just got bumped up. Thanks Rich.

[Tim Martin]

I never had the good fortune to meet Rich but I have always been a fan of his posts. Intelligence tempered with a wry sense of humor always had me clicking on any thread where he was participating. Condolences to his family and large circle of friends.

[David McIntosh]

Very sad to hear this news. I only had the good fortune of meeting Rich once (for a couple of hours in Edinburgh earlier this year) and I’m glad that I did, albeit far too briefly.

RIP and my condolences to Rich’s family and friends.

[Mark_F]

...and a rare combination of soulful kindness to everyone he met, while being the single most erudite person I've never known.

You know you are dealing with someone special when Gib Papazian describes someone else as being the most erudite person they have ever known. 

It's an accurate description of someone I only met twice, most recently in 2012 when he made the journey from Fife down to North Berwick to catch up with me for a bite to eat.  Given the price of petrol in the UK, that's one hell of an effort.

RIP Rihc, you were a great bloke.

Condolences and all the best going forward to his family.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Peace & Love to Josie & Rich's family
We are terribly saddened to hear of the news
Here is Rihc about to make 4 from the beach adjacent to #2 at North Berwick

[mike_malone]

 I first met Rich and his daughter in the early 2000’s on a trip to play TOC and N.Berwick. We had a drink and discussed all sorts of things.
I played with him at Rye before the Buda at Deal and he dragged me to a win.


 He was a straightforward person who did not put on airs.

[Michael Moore]

In May of 2015 Rich picked me up at the train station near his home and whisked me off to St Andrews to walk the Old Course on a Sunday. On the way up we talked about all sorts of things. His warmth and sincerity struck me far more than his intelligence.
 
We started with lunch at the St Andrews Links Clubhouse, after which I said I wanted to walk a few hundred yards back and start a proper tour at the first tee. He said "I think you'll like the second green just fine." I did, of course, and the next four hours were unforgettable, as in, I can remember many specific things that Rich told me about the course and about life. And yes, it's really true that he became a bit disoriented looking for a couple of tee boxes in the hay.
 
Before we parted I bought one of his St Andrews books. As a professional information designer, I strive for products that are as detailed and beautiful as this one. In addition to everything that everyone has said already, let's not forget that he was one hell of a mapmaker. Rest in peace.

[David_Tepper]

Rich was also an accomplished tennis player in his younger days, winning the Connecticut Boys Doubles Championship in 1964.

[James Brown]

Rich's review of Royal Dornoch:


https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/dornochgoodale/

Aww shucks.  This review was the first thing I read about Dornoch a dozen years ago and it launched my interested in golf course architecture.  We exchanged messages quite a few times as I planned my first trip there years later and he wrote me the nicest message right after I was accepted as a member just last year.   Greatest honor of my golfing life.  Started by Rich Goodale.


I imagine him in heaven already having made it around to the tee at Foxy with Donald Ross, Old Tom Morris and Sandy Tatum.  Something like that. 

[Jason Hines]

I regret to say that my only correspondences with Rich were on this discussion board. 


Will always think of him when I open his well written book, “Experience Royal Dornoch”.


Sincere condolences to his family.


Jason Hines

[Lou_Duran]

Thanks Gib.  You capture in relatively few words my thoughts about Rich and how I am feeling at this moment. 


With what he has been through over the last month, it was a tender mercy that the end came so quickly.  He passed peacefully in the company of his immediate family, knowing how much he is admired and loved by many in our community.


Richard (his preferred name in Scotland) and I had the 7:48 two-ball time at his beloved Royal Dornoch for next Tuesday through Thursday.  As of a couple months ago when we were planning the week around Josie's "clan" annual reunion in Dornoch, he informed me that there would be other games, to prepare to buy a few pints, and to expect to make a few unwise wagers.  He also indicated that no mercy would be shown for my relative inexperience, jet lag, vanity handicap and required participation in the revelry.  Life is fleeting.


Next week will be somber.  I plan to play a round or two with Josie's family and I am sure that the experience will be bittersweet.  I suspect that more than a few pints will be hoisted in honor of our good friend who remains with us in memory and spirit.


As I was greeted by several emails this afternoon upon returning from a brief visit to my son's family in UT, Josie's parting line loosened the knot in my stomach a bit and brought on a brief smile: "We are all grieving for the man.  As we say in Scotland, 'he was himself' ".  Indeed.  Rich made a difference.  We are all the better for having known him.  May he rest in peace.

[Evan Fleisher]

Heartbroken. Nothing else to add.


Rest easy, my friend.