Paul Mansell, the new captain of Gloucester Golf Club, has a pretty impressive sporting CV.

As you’d expect he’s a good golfer – he plays off 5.3 – and he was also a very good rugby player back in the day.

Good enough, in fact, to play for Gloucester for three years over two spells in the late 80s and early 90s.

“It was just before professionalism,” said the one-time fly-half or full-back. “We had a very good side.”

Indeed they did because that was the time when the likes of Mike Teague, Malcolm Preedy, Marcus Hannaford and Mike Hamlin were in their pomp and Gloucester were right up there among the leading teams in the country.

Mansell, whose son Lee was a professional footballer, also played for Coney Hill for eight years and spent another seven at Gloucester Old Boys before spending a couple of seasons on the veterans’ circuit.

Rugby was clearly a big deal for Mansell back then, but in his formative years he still managed to find time to play golf.

“As a kid I was a member at Minchinhampton Golf Club,” he said. “But when I was about 15 my father said I had to decide between rugby and golf.

“That was an easy decision, as a youngster it was rugby every time so I left golf alone.”

He didn’t leave it alone entirely, however, and still played a couple of times a year.

He became a member of Gloucester Golf Club in 1990 – he can remember the year because that was when he won his first club tournament – and has been a very familiar face around the place over the years.

At his best he played off 4.3. “I think that lasted for about two weeks,” the 64-year-old said. “A couple of competitions later it had dropped a couple of points!”

While Mansell has always been one of the better players on the course at Gloucester, he’s also been prominent off it as well.

He’s been on the club’s committee a few times and has also served as greens liaison officer and members’ secretary, so becoming men’s captain was always likely to happen at some stage.

“I’ve probably been asked about five times,” said the father-of-three and grandfather-of-seven. 

“My wife and family agreed that I needed to get it out of my system!”

It’s still relatively early days in his term of office, which is a year, but it’s certainly going well so far.

“I’m enjoying it,” he said, “and I’m getting used to the public speaking!”

He’s obviously spending plenty of time at the golf club – he organises a nine-hole club night on Thursday evenings – and he’s still managing to play a couple of times a week.

When he spoke to The Local Answer, he was preparing to fly out to Spain for an annual golf trip in Mercia.

He was looking forward to some good weather, of course, something that was in short supply when he claimed what he considers to be one of his better wins on the golf course.

“It was a couple of years ago in the county seniors scratch foursomes,” he said.

“The final was at Cleeve, we beat a team from Bristol in the morning and Ross-on-Wye in the afternoon. The wind and rain was coming down sideways, I’m quite proud of that win. It was a good night too!”

So, does Mansell wish he’d played more golf when he was younger?

“No I don’t,” he said. “Rugby is a unique game, there’s such a bond with the blokes you played with.

“I can’t remember all their names but when you see them in the street there’s just a nod.

“Golf is much more individual, I get more enjoyment from golf when I play as part of a team.”

And Mansell is certainly a team player at Gloucester Golf Club!