Widely Reported: Death of Golf Commentator, Alex Hay

The former BBC golf correspondent – Scot, Alex Hay – has died.

As reported in The Scotsman and elsewhere, Edinburgh-born Hay died yesterday, aged 78.

For 26 years, he co-commented on TV with Peter Alliss, who is quoted in The Scotsman saying he “fought tooth and nail” for the BBC to keep him, when, seven years ago, it decided to drop him from the roster.

At the time, Hay was quoted in an interview to then golf correspondent, Mike Aitken, saying: “I suppose I could have said I'd chosen to retire, but the truth was the BBC want to go in a different direction and I can't complain about that. When I started working for them 26 years ago I would have been ecstatic to be handed a three-year contract. As it turned out, I lasted for longer than a quarter of a century and enjoyed every minute of it. From the letters I've received, the viewers enjoyed it too.”