Sean Dunne is three months into his year as captain of Gloucester Golf Club and he’s loving every minute of it.

Not that he’s been a golfer all his life, far from it, because he took up the sport only 10 years ago.

The recently turned 56-year-old was a very keen squash player before that after playing a lot of rugby when he was at St Peter’s School.

He took up squash in his-mid 20s because it was a sport that his wife Adele played and the Gloucester born and bred Dunne, who lives in Tuffley, became a pretty good player, playing for both Gloucester Leisure Centre and Gloucester Civil Service.

“I got involved and I got the bug,” he said. “I wanted to be the best I could be.”

It was a sport he really enjoyed, so why did he give it up?

“I injured my back and I needed to find something a little less explosive,” said the contracts manager.

“My wife bought me a set of golf clubs and some lessons and it’s all gone from there. Golf filled the gap.”

Ask him which sport he prefers, golf or squash, and he hesitates before saying: “I’ve got to say golf now although I like them both, they are both difficult to play.

“Both require a lot of patience but I wish I’d taken up golf 20, 30, 40 years ago, I think it’s a fantastic game.”

Dunne’s son Ryan is now having golf lessons and Dunne senior said of the game he has been playing competitively for only eight years: “It’s an inner battle with yourself. Yes, you are playing someone else but you are trying to beat the course. It takes a lot of time and patience.”

Dunne currently plays off 12 and continued: “I’ve gone from a 23 handicap. My goal is to be single figure handicapper but it’s very hard.”

He’s got every chance of realising his ambition though because he plans to keep on playing for a good few years yet.

The next few months will be busy, busy, busy for him both on and off the course, however, especially as he has set up at Captain’s Fund to mark his year in charge.

“Rather than raise money for a charity, I wanted to do something for the club,” explained Dunne.

“I want to freshen up the clubhouse, give it a new look. The support I am getting is fantastic. We are a members’ club and we are really on the up. I want to keep that vibe going.”