Barry Lane, who died of esophageal cancer at the end of last month aged 62, had a golfing CV to be proud of: The Englishman represented Europe in the 1993 Ryder Cup, ranks fourth on the European Tour all-time appearance list (with 693 starts), claimed five wins on the circuit and added another eight titles on the continent’s Senior Tour.
The true essence of the golfer and the man, however, was revealed not in the number of wins (21 in total worldwide) but in their location.
In December 2019, I sat down with Lane in Seychelles a few days after he had claimed the last of his victories, in Madagascar. I easily could have Googled his other wins. Instead, I asked him to list them, knowing he’d relish the prospect, not because it would allow him to boast but because words and stories would pour forth (it also transpired that Wikipedia, for example, is one short).
“Let’s see,” he said with all the enthusiasm I had expected and a quick trademark flick of his mop of thick brown hair. “I was a winner in Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and England on the main tour. Scotland and England again with the seniors, plus Italy, the Czech Republic, Wales, Mauritius and last week. The (precursor to the) Accenture World Match Play in the States. A bit special, that, and I nabbed the World Assistant Pro Championship in America, too. Jamaican Open? Yes, that one too. I also won the World Par 3 Championship earlier this year in Bermuda. Does that count? Course it does. Couple of smaller ones, so where’s that leave me? Japan last year. Oh, yes, that was a good one.”
He proceeded to reveal the Kafkaesque difficulties of playing on the Japanese tour, a tale that included a guarantor and a translator, visas and certificates, embassy visits and multiple passports, numerous satnav catastrophes and one wasted journey to an event for which he wasn’t even eligible, every incident greeted with an amused roll of the eyes and a shake of the head.
Moments later, he was enthusing about the previous week.
“An event in Madagascar they said? ‘Oh, hello,’ I thought. ‘I’ll try that.’ Obviously, I was always going. Just arriving at the airport was a reminder of the 1980s and the Safari Tour (in Africa). No computers, everything on paper. Wonderful stuff.”
I had asked Lane for 10 minutes of his time. We chattered for more than an hour, and it felt like five minutes because he loved to talk but most of all he really, really loved to talk about golf.
At the start of last month, he was back in the Indian Ocean, surrounded by his fellow competitors on the Legends Tour (previously the European Senior Tour). They were in Mauritius for the season-ending MCB Tour Championship. Lane was eligible to play but unable to do so following the diagnosis of his illness two months before.
No matter. This tireless golfing adventurer wanted to spend the week with old friends, and one evening players and wives assembled to celebrate his life. There were more stories, more laughter, plenty of tears, but mostly gratitude and love for a fellow who meant so much to all of them (not least because although Lane always had tales to tell, he also had time to listen).
“They ran a three-minute montage of his career on a big screen, and I was watching him as he watched himself,” Paul Eales, Lane’s friend and fellow touring pro, told Global Golf Post. “It was lovely to see his face light up at every memory in spite of the pain he was in.
“It was an emotional night, a chance to say our goodbyes, and it showed what a huge heart Barry had just to make the journey to be with his tour family. It was all he’d ever wanted, and he’d fly anywhere to play a game. He was the archetypal touring pro.
“I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Every one of us held Barry in such high esteem, perhaps because he was a sensitive man and he’d be the first to see when someone was struggling.
“He’d suggest a few holes, or a chip and a putt, maybe a chat on the practice ground. He was a father figure to everyone because there wasn’t a lot that happened in anyone’s career that hadn’t happened to Barry. He was a great source of comfort for so many pros out there.”
Lane had the capacity to look on the bright side, even when casting his mind back to his lone Ryder Cup appearance and his 0-3 record in 1993 at The Belfry. “I actually played well in all three matches,” he once told me in a pro-am. “That’s the thing with match play, the magic of it.”
Eales explained that Lane’s second wife, Camilla, had much to do with his perspective. “He was so competitive, and when Camilla started travelling with him, she brought out his light side. He loved having her on the bag, and often he’d turn up with a new grip on the putting green. He’d say, ‘Oh, Camilla had a look last night, and I think I’ve found something.’ They made such a wonderful team on and off the course.”
That night in Mauritius, the Legends Tour revealed its Rookie of the Year Trophy had been renamed in his honour, and Lane awarded it to the 2022 recipient Adilson da Silva.
“It’s a fitting tribute, and I’m delighted he had the opportunity to present it,” said Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s chief executive. “The thoughts of everyone at the European Tour group are with Camilla, the Lane family and his many friends throughout the golfing world.”
In his four decades on tour, Lane witnessed an astonishing transformation of European golf and always accepted rather than resented the changes.
“I think Rory (McIlroy) overtook my career winnings in three years,” he said with a chuckle. “Some people hear me say that and tell me I was born in the wrong era, but it’s not like that. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“It’s so different now, but I’ve had an amazing time. It’s sometimes been a challenge, but it’s what I’ve always done: seeing the world and playing golf. What a wonderful way to live a life.”
E-MAIL MATT
Top: Barry Lane relished "seeing the world and playing golf" on Europe's tours.
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