"Dougie - you were a super colleague, a trusted friend and you'll be very sadly missed."

More tributes for late golf writer Douglas Lowe, starting with Martin Dempster in the Scotsman:

Five months ago we reported together on Colin Montgomerie leading Europe to a thrilling Ryder Cup victory, but the high of that occasion has now been replaced by a feeling of shock and disbelief. Diagnosed with a brain tumour early in the new year, Dougie passed away at his Helensburgh home surrounded by his family at the age of 59 - the surgery he had undergone and subsequent treatment having proved unsuccessful.

Dougie, a long-time member at Helensburgh, was our 'statto'. He knew everything from the vagaries of the World Golf Rankings to how many children had been introduced to clubgolf.

He was also a stickler for the rules, as was witnessed when one of his playing partners conceded him a putt during a media event in the build up to the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry. Dougie didn't do anything wrong but, still, he played it by the book and penalised himself, though, thankfully, that didn't stop him from winning that day.

Dougie wasn't your all singing, all dancing types, but he certainly made me laugh when recalling a story about himself last year on the walk back to his house from Helensburgh railway station after a night out in Glasgow. Passing the local park, he ventured in and made a bee line for the football pitch, where he duly scored an imaginary headed 'goal'.

Little did he know that he was being watched by two members of Strathcylde constabulary who, after letting him finish his subsequent celebration, had a quiet word in his ear before sending a smiling Dougie off into the dark to finish his journey.

Press rooms won't be the same this season.

Bernie McGuire, contributing golf correspondent for the Daily Record and Herald, posted this in the comments on the initial post:

Sadly, it was while I was out in Abu Dhabi earlier this year when I learnt my good friend Dougie Lowe was suffering from a brain tumour.

As a contributing correspondent for the Daily Record along with the Scottish Herald, it was a huge shock to be informed Dougie would probably never return to report on the European Tour. However, I had the rug pulled right out from under me today (MON) when Jim Black (The Scottish Sun) advised me Dougie had passed away.

I first met Dougie around 2003 and soon after he had been appointed golf correspondent for the Herald.

Dougie quickly settled into life on the Tour and I remember his immense delight in being afforded the job of covering the Walker Cup later that year in the States. But it was early in 2004 when I really got to know Dougie better.

That was in when Dougie travelled to Australia.  So excited to be out covering golf he bought himself an around world ticket. Dougie pencilled in coverage of the co-sanctioned Heineken Classic in Melbourne and the ANZ Championship just north of Sydney. He thrilled at being offered a spot in the Pro-Am at Royal Melbourne and delighted also at the thought of spending the next week in a beach cottage at Nelson Bay, some two hours drive north of Sydney.

It was the year Laura Davies accepted a highly-controversial sponsor's invitation to compete against the men in the ANZ. Dougie was his element, surfing every morning before breakfast and then heading off to cover the event before delighting all of us around a barbeque later in the day with his unique style of humour. Davies finished last in the field but it was Dougie who came out on tops.

Next stop on his reporting schedule was the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship. And as Dougie had spent so much time on the beach, I remember saying to him before he left to the States he looked so tanned he could have easily passed for a native Australian.

My partner and fellow European Tour journalist, Fatiha Betscher last July delighted in joining Jim (Black) in spending the week of the Barclays Scottish Open as guests of Dougie in his nearby Helensburgh apartment.
I teased him about a pile of un-ironed washing in the corner but Dougie was a great host that week. Fatiha cooked meals and Dougie entertained the three of us with more of his tales and jokes.

Bizarrely, as you look out his lounge room window the building dominating the view is the church right across the street from where he lived and from where he will be buried next Monday. Dougie - you were a super colleague, a trusted friend and you'll be very sadly missed.