FORMER Cirencester Golf Club captain Rodney Williams died in a motorcycle crash last week. Here, former Standard sport editor Danny Hall writes about the well-loved man.

If golf was his hobby, motor cycling was his passion.

The captain’s car parking space at Cirencester Golf Club over the last two years was occasionally filled not by a bland SUV but by one of two impressive, gleaming Triumph motorbikes – Rodney’s Tiger 1050cc Sport or his beast of a Thunderbird 1600cc cruiser.

His passion for travelling the open road on two wheels took Rodney all over the world with like-minded friends.

That wanderlust was embedded in his DNA. As a young boy he moved to East Africa with his parents, before returning to England as a teenager, joining the RAF in 1959, crossing the globe regularly during his 10 years’ service.

In retirement he traversed the United States five years ago on a Tiger 800 from Newark to California and back – a journey of 9,000 miles in 22 days. Along with the usual sightseeing stops of Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, he took in the wide open spaces of the Mojave Desert and Bonneville Flats as well as the more challenging roads through the Appalachians. And, of course, he got to cruise down the iconic ‘blacktop’ of the old Route 66.

In 2016 he circumvented Australia, leaving his beloved Triumphs at home and making the journey on a BMW F800 that he bought for the purpose soon after landing in Oz.

At the age of 75, plans were well advanced for his latest jaunt, this time with a great buddy Gordon Heggie. They planned a month-long major tour of Europe in 2018. Sadly, it’s not to be.

Rodney enjoyed the friendship of a number of like-minded ‘bikers’, some of them neighbours in Latton where he lived with his second wife Janet.

And at his beloved golf club, a cheery welcome was always guaranteed from Rodney.

From a distance you would first spot the snow white hair, then the beaming smile, before he would happily engage in the latest gossip from the links.

He had time for everyone at the club and the friendly demeanour during his two-year tenure as captain helped Cirencester to attract scores of new members.

When his year as captain was coming to an end, and when his successor had to step down for personal reasons, Rodney was the unanimous and popular choice to take on a rare and successful second year. Members were very fond of him as their captain.