We’ve all heard the phrase ‘If you’re good enough, you’re old enough’… well, Rodney Williams is proving that if you’re good enough, you’re young enough.

That’s because at the age of 74 he is just coming to end of his second year as captain of Cirencester Golf Club.

He will step aside at the club’s AGM on Thursday 7th December after two very enjoyable years but will still be very much involved in a club that has been a big part of his life over the past 15 years.

Surprisingly for someone who is now so immersed in the sport, Rodney didn’t take up golf until he was 47.

And he’s also not one of those people who wished he’d taken up the game sooner.

That’s because up until then he’d enjoyed the type of life that makes someone like Richard Branson look like a stay-at-home type.

Born and brought up in East Africa – now Tanzania – he came to England when he was “16 or 17”, joining the Royal Air Force in 1959 where he spent time in the Middle East during his 10 years’ service.

“I went in as a boy and came out as a man,” chuckled Rodney.

He continued to fly high after leaving the RAF, working as an export manager for a major forklift manufacturer – a job that took him to all four corners of the globe.

And it wasn’t until he’d finished travelling that his golf career took off.

By now he had moved to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire and it was at Whittlebury Park Golf Club that he first started to get a taste for tees, greens and sand wedges!

So why golf?

“I needed to have an interest,” he said very matter-of-factly. “I’d always played squash and hockey before that. I’d never thought about golf before then but I‘d always been active in sport.”

And he’s certainly glad it was golf that he chose to pursue because these days he still plays off a highly respectable 15 and is loving life at Cirencester, a club he joined when he moved to the area in 2002.

It’s not just golf that gets Rodney up in the morning, however, as he also has a passion for motorcycling.

“I have two motorbikes,” he said with obvious pride. “They’re both modern Triumphs – a Tiger 1050cc Sport and a Thunderbird 1600cc cruiser.

“In 2013 I crossed the USA on a Tiger 800 from Newark to California and back. I covered 9,000 miles in 22 days travelling across the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, the Monument Desert, Grand Canyon and back up the Appellations and home.

“Last year I circumvented Australia on a locally purchased BMW F800.”

And even though he is well into his eighth decade, Rodney is already planning another adventure on two wheels.

“Next is a grand European tour with my motorcycle/golfer friend Gordon Heggie,” he chuckled. “We’ll travel down through Europe, across the Alps, down the Adriatic, across the north of Greece and back up through the Balkans and into north Europe.

“It should take three weeks but we’re prepared to go for a month!”

The contrast between the roar of his motorbike and the peace of the fairways could not be starker, of course, and Rodney is certainly pleased that he set up home in the Cotswolds.

“I enjoy my golf and Cirencester are a great club,” he said. “They’re a very friendly set-up and we’ve got great facilities for practising putting and chipping as well as the driving range.

“And then there’s the course. It was designed by James Braid and is one of the most attractive around as it follows the contours of the surrounding hills.”

And when the players have finished their round Rodney is particularly proud of the traditional clubhouse waiting for them where they can relive their eagles, birdies and maybe even a hole-in-one.

“Yes, the clubhouse has gone through a bit of a renaissance,” he said. “Five years ago it was falling down. It was built in 1910 and is timber framed. The club sold a plot of land for development to finance the refurbishment.”

Rodney spends a lot of time in the clubhouse, of course, because one of the captain’s jobs is to meet and greet players from other clubs. It’s something he enjoys.

Ask him what his strength is as a golfer and he laughs: “My social side!”

Push him and he’ll say: “Just being steady on the golf course. I’ve got less distance these days but my chipping isn’t too bad. There are no outstanding parts to my game, I’m just an all-round steady player who is trying to hold onto his handicap!”

While Rodney, who lives in the village of Latton about 12 miles outside Cirencester, clearly loves all things golf, it’s not a sport that has captured the imagination of his wife Janet.

“Unfortunately my good lady doesn’t play,” he chuckled. “I say unfortunately, maybe I mean fortunately because I see some other couples playing and they keep telling each what to do on the course! If you see someone playing badly, don’t tell them how to play… that’s a disaster.”

So while Rodney would never dream of giving anyone an on-the-course coaching lesson, he is, nevertheless, keen to encourage the next generation to come through at the 600-plus member club.

“I’m trying to get younger people involved – the 30, 40 or 50-year-olds,” said Rodney. “As captain I’ve tried to encourage the younger ones to do more things in and around the golf club.

“I’m 74, I shouldn’t be captain. You want a captain in his 40s and 50s.”

After the first week of December, Rodney will no longer be captain – but one thing that won’t change is his passion for the club.