Recent past captain, Douglas Adams, passed away peacefully on Sunday 23 April. He was 67.
Beloved husband of Terri for 38 years and adored father of Rupert, Pippa and Sophie.
Born in Birmingham, he was educated at Oundle School and studied for a B Comm (Commerce) at Liverpool University.
After qualifying as a chartered accountant through Ernst & Young, Doug moved into financial services in the City transferring to Tokyo for three years where he was responsible for the Asia Pacific region operations of Exco (moneybroker) and W I Carr (stockbroker). He was part of the team setting up a seat on the Tokyo stock exchange in 1988.
Returning to the UK Doug moved into finance for food brands but took early retirement in 2003 to publish books on Golf courses.
His time abroad fed his delight in travelling and exploring and his ‘country count’ reached 68 across 5 continents.
He studied in depth the history of World War 1. This included frequent trips to France, Belgium and Turkey and repeated trips on relevant anniversary dates such as Sarajevo on 28 June 2014, the Somme (Thiepval) on 1 July 2016 and driving the Western Front in the centenary year of 2018.
He had very nearly completed a personal challenge to visit every Thankful village in England. This was often combined with a Golf tour, playing opportunity or luxury hotel. His family will complete this quest over the next few years in his memory.
A lifelong keen golfer, in his retirement he joined XLGS and relished the top quality courses visited, the keen match competitions, many of the tours on offer and the excellent company. Soon after joining he took on the manager role for the ever popular Scottish Tour and ran 7 trips to the Inverness area. In alternate years his wife Terri joined him before or after the tour to explore this lovely area of Scotland that he came to love. He even joined Brora Golf Club though sadly never got to visit for an independent round.
Another particular XL highlight was the annual match against Royal County Down and he thoroughly enjoyed the last visit to Northern Ireland in August 2021.
His captaincy from October 2019, was extended and while captain he made an effort to attend (and play) as many matches as possible around the country. He is well known throughout the society.
Doug enjoyed walking including national trails such as The Hertfordshire Way, the Cotswold Way and as a family we completed the Ridgeway in stages in the summer of 2004. Glyndebourne was a regular outing in the summer months and he enjoyed theatre and fine dining.
Doug had such a passion for life- whether he was learning a new card game (to beat everyone), planning the next holiday, on the golf course or researching the best new restaurants to sample the finest wine. He enjoyed it all thoroughly alongside family and friends.
Details of a Thanksgiving service to remember a life well lived are as follows from the family:
