Nigel Huggins, the men’s captain at Stinchcombe Hill Golf Club, is a relatively latecomer to the sport.

The 59-year-old didn’t join the club, which can be found on the southern edge of the Cotswold Escarpment above the Severn Valley, near Dursley, until 2017, but he has certainly made up for lost time.

These days he plays three times a week, his handicap is a very respectable 8.7 and he’s relishing his new role at a club that has become his second home.

It’s actually quite surprising that he didn’t start playing the game sooner because he grew up in a golfing family with his parents Eddie and Ella both former captains of Cotswolds Hills.

“I played a little bit when I was younger, maybe once or twice a year,” said Huggins, whose oldest son Jake is a member at Stinchcombe Hill.

Growing up and into his adult years, rugby and cricket were always the main sports for Huggins Snr, a former Sir Thomas Rich’s School pupil.

And he was decent at both too, playing second row for many years with Gloucester Civil Service while as a cricketer – he was an all-rounder – he played for both Service and Kingsholm.

“I started playing golf when I stopped playing other sports,” said the dad-of-three, who is married to Mel and lives in Quedgeley.

And the time spent on the golf course – he was heading to Knowle for a golf day when he spoke to The Local Answer – is certainly paying dividends.

“At the start of last season my handicap was 11-and-a-half,” he said. “You never stop learning, there are always little things that you can improve on.

“I usually play every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

Three years ago he was playing off 8.2 in what was a stellar year for him.

“I won three board competitions at the club that year,” he said. “I’d never won anything before, I was pretty chuffed with that.”

Huggins is just under 6ft 4in, but he says that while he can hit a long ball it is his play around the greens that is his strength.

“My short game is okay,” he said. “I’m pretty good at little chips from 30 to 40 yards onto the green, that seems to be my signature shot.

“I’m not always the straightest off the tee. I can hit it a long way but it doesn’t always go in the right direction, although I’m getting better now.”

Talk to Huggins and it’s obvious just how much he loves the game – his wife is also taking golf lessons – and he certainly loves playing at Stinchcombe Hill.

“The views are outstanding,” he said. “You’re away in your own bit of heaven.

“The greens are fantastic, Matt Ayres and his team do a great job, they are manicured beautifully.

“The rough can be treacherous but that’s part of what makes it such a good course.

“And most importantly, everybody is so welcoming – when I joined the club I didn’t know anyone. I loved it from day one.”

Huggins, who is joint owner of an engineering business in Telford, is a regular for the club’s B team and he fully intends to keep on playing for them even though he has taken on the men’s captaincy.

“There’s a lot of work involved in being captain but I’m loving it,” he said.

And he’s given himself an extra challenge during his time in office because he wants to raise as much money as possible for the British Heart Foundation, his chosen charity and one that means a lot to him.

“Two of my children have had open heart surgery,” he said. “Ideally I’d like to get to £10,000 but I don’t think I’ll get that much.”

Hopefully he will.