2013 - The Lions tour

Light Grey (Dougs) defeated Dark Grey (Els) by 9 1/2 to 3 1/2

Leadership is defined in many ways and Captain Dougall left nothing to chance in this year's Redyr Cup. In Clive Woodwardesque fashion every detail was considered and the final victory was fully deserved, down to the final night boat race where the placing of Marcus as lead-off led the way to a clear victory across the board.

The sun shone down and cooked all day as buggies were the order for the day. The earliest start for a Redyr Cup (with coffee and bacon sarnies at 8.30 am) led to the Light Greys racing out of the blocks into a day 1 lead. Marcus, Dougs, Simon and Tim were level peggin throughout with the match going down to the final few holes. In match 2, Bill and Ben controlled the match, being 3 up twice, until the turing point at 15. Ben 8 ft from the hole in 2 with a remarkable second whilst Hods and Huw were both 120 yards out following theirs. If ever there was cause for the introduction of the Mulligan rule this was it as Hods played to within 10 ft and sunk the putt. Clutch time for Bill and Ben to go 2 up with 3 to play and the match probably theirs..... Probably best not to talk about it as the late charge from Light Greys won them the game in the 18th green.

A quick turnaround with a couple of beers - the first one wanted, the second one definately not that excited about (Tim, I still think producing the warm pint at the first tee would have been genius) - led swiftly into the afternoon matches. Another record was broken as the players trudged through the longest rounds ever played by man (ok a little exageration but 5 hours+ was really tedious!) to bring into the clubhouse a 5-1 lead for Doug's side.

Saturday morning and the Lions roared and Els men set out to undo the terror of Friday's matches. Leading the way was Simon Livingston, one of the most successful singles players in Redyr Cup history but close to challenging Ben Gore in the "Redyr Cup wins" catagory. Perhaps the challenge for 2014 is to get Ben Gore to play on an opposite team..........

The firm challenge faltered on the rocks that are Dougs and Marcus and the eventual score of 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 did not flatter Dougs. Whilst Richie Grey was the only Scots presence on the Lions, Dougs made sure that Scotland continued their proud record of winning captains (I'm letting you off being English for a sec here Bill) in the Redyr Cup. Only one question for next year, is it McJefferson or McColler..........