2014 The Everest Tour

Red (Tim) defeated White (Marcus) 7 1/2 to 4 1/2

In late 1996, in a dark backwater bar in Bristol, a craggy Scottish former player overheard one of the most motivational speeches of his life. James Alan Walter Telfer was planning for the forthcoming tour of South Africa by the first British Lions teams of the professional era. How to fire up such a group of players........

Fast forward nearly 20 years and that same speech could be heard on the first tee at the Menzies Welcombe. With the game in the balance, the spirit of Churchill (Winston, not the nodding dog) himself was summoned; "This is your Everest lads, when you walk past each other in 100 years time you will look each other in the eye and know that you were part of something special - a special team - a special bond - a favoured few............"

Yes, Tim Coller has grown into captaincy. When Mike Brearley writes his addendum to The Art of Captaincy (1985) he will dedicate a whole chapter to the intricate planning that the Red team utilised. Fresh shirts at the half way stage, man-by-man takedown planning on the Friday evening, motivational speeches and 2 way radio mics were only the beginning.

Reds brought everything to the party and, as the singles closed in the bright summer's evening, were within touching distance of victory. A share of the points in the singles would do it. With 1 game left on the course this target was reached as Jack produced the round of his life to dispatch Ben 4 and 3. In unaccustomed style Jack even signed off with a chipped in birdie to reinforce his victory - his opponent however was long gone to soak his sorrows in the bar. Thankfully this meant that the excitement and rollercoaster action in the top game was momentarily forgotten. 5 up with 8 to play; a formality you say. Yet Tim's grasp of captaincy even reached to his last minute recruitment where Martin, summoned up the M5 at short notice, produced probably the Redyr Cup's greatest upset and comeback by taking Lawrence down 18 and nipping the match.

Reds triumphant, Whites dejected and the inevitable post-mortem begins and with it the column inches which will overshadow the frankly second string event being held at Gleneagles in the autumn. Amidst the scenes of jubilation a quiet whisper began, gaining greater depth and resonance as the red wine flowed and the required banter failed to materialise. Would he, could he, should he........... Bill, we will have to wait and see.

Will the 2015 captains be able to build on this strong showing? - Huw and Lawrence will again have the chance to build their own destiny - either learning from the success of Tim and Marcus or by simply ignoring them completely.