Nigel Day remembers when Sherdons Golf Club was being built in the 1990s.

It was just a long drive away from where he lived and worked in Tewkesbury. Now he is one of the driving forces behind the growth of the 9-hole club which has recently come under the ownership of golf professional Richard Ballard.

The happily retired 63-year-old social golfer, who is the club’s secretary and treasurer, is full of praise for the new set-up at Tredington which now boasts more than 300 members.

And Day should be able to recognise a good golf club when he sees one.

He’s been playing the sport since the age of 12 and numbers Cirencester, Tewkesbury Park, Ross-on-Wye and Brickhampton Court among his former clubs before joining Sherdons” five or six years ago”.

“I started playing golf in 1965,” he said. “I was very fortunate to be involved in the sport at such a young age.

“It was my uncle Brian Nicholls who got me into golf. He didn’t start playing until he was in his 40s or 50s but he soon got very good and was playing off three.

“He played at Cirencester and was a county player. I used to walk the dog and do a lot of caddying for him and that’s what got me into it.”

Day was living in Chedworth at the time but he spent almost as much time at Cirencester Golf Club as he did the family home.

“I used to play with half-a-dozen friends,” he said. “They were all very good and I was probably the worst out of the lot of us. At my best I played off five but these days I play off 12. Age does catch up with you!”

Day talks fondly about those days playing golf at Cirencester in the 1960s and 70s.

“One of the group I played with was Paul Worster who is now the head greenkeeper at Minchinhampton,” he said. “He’s a three-handicapper today.

“Another was Peter Stone. He still plays at Cirencester and was in the Gloucestershire seniors side that played the main county team the other week at Sherdons which shows how good he is.”

Day remembers fun times at Cirencester but work took him to Tewkesbury and he decided to join Tewkesbury Park, the club just round the corner from where he lived.

“I was there for 18 to 20 years,” he said. “That was when I was at my peak as a golfer in the 80s and 90s. I was never county standard but I won one or two club competitions.

“Put it this way, my name is on one or two of the honours boards although first and foremost I always played golf to enjoy it.”

Day was one of 12 who left Tewkesbury to join Ross-on-Wye. “That was a tough tree-lined course,” he remembers.

After three years there he moved to Brickhampton Court which he said was “a very nice course”.

“I was on the honours board a couple of times in pairs competitions at Brickhampton,” he said. “I also equalled the course record with a 69 gross in 1995 at Cleeve. I expect it’s a lot lower now.

“I’ve also recorded a few albatrosses so I’ve had my moments.”

These days, Day is happy to be part of the Sherdons family. He was captain of the seniors section in 2013 and said: “It’s a great club. My priority as secretary and treasurer is looking after the members and making sure they are happy.

“For me it’s all about the atmosphere, the people and the character of the place – that’s just as important as the golf.”

The golf is still very important, however, and Day believes Sherdons has plenty to offer.

“It has something for everyone,” he said. “We’re a 9-hole golf course which is ideal for people who want just a quick round of golf as well as some of our senior seniors, who are in their late 70s or early 80s.

“But it’s not an easy course. On paper Sherdons looks like a short yardage. It looks easy but I can assure you it’s not. Even county players who have come here have said they’ve had to manage their way round the course.

“I’m a big hitter and I can get in a lot of trouble around the course. They call me Seve Ballesteros and that’s not because I’m any good but because I’m always in the car park!”

Day may have been playing golf for 50 years but he is not one of those people who turns a blind eye to new ideas.

“When I started playing, the golf balls were smaller and softer,” he said. “The clubs we used were from the Arnie Palmer and Jack Nicklaus era.

“We played with wooden heads and compared to the technology available today it was a different world.”

Not that he is against any of the advances that have been made.

“Not at all,” he said. “In my day if you were good at golf you really were good because the equipment isn’t anything like it is today.

“But it’s a very difficult game and any help that young players can get has to be a good thing.”

Day believes the sport is set to undergo radical change over the next couple of years.

“The R&A is trying to move the game forward by bringing in ‘Ready Golf’ which is aimed at speeding up play,” said Day.

“If you want to play your shot and it’s safe to do so we’re encouraging players to do it whether it’s their turn or not. If you watch the top professionals on TV they are all so slow.

“We want to make the game faster and encourage as many people as possible to play golf.

“When I started in the 1960s there was a touch of elitism associated with the sport but now anyone can play.”

That’s very true at Sherdons where Richard Ballard is keen on introducing more women and children to the wonderful game that is golf.

“We’re open to everybody, pay and play and members,” said Day

Day, for one, is certainly sold on the club. Married to Sian – “she much prefers gardening to golf,” he chuckled – before adding: “I’m totally happy at Sherdons, I’d be happy to have my ashes spread over one of the greens here.”