It was very much a case of right place, right time when Mike Slatter joined Tewkesbury Park Golf Club back in 1976.

That was about the time that Slatter’s rugby career – he played for Tewkesbury and Cheltenham – was coming to a close and he admits he was looking around for something else to do.

“I joined the club when it opened,” said Slatter, who has been Tewkesbury Park’s president since 2010.

“I joined with my brother Brian, he’s a good golfer and plays off about 9. I’m more of a social golfer, he does the golf and I do the chatting!”

Slatter, who was born in Dumbleton and has lived around these parts all his life, was a decent rugby player back in the day.

He was a prop or second row and played alongside the likes of Maurice Hamlin and Adrian Drake at Cheltenham and Nigel Roberts, Chris Atwell, Roger Groves and Mike Hyde at Tewkesbury.

He reckons he started playing golf more regularly around 1990 and these days plays a couple of times a week.

“I was captain in 1998, I was a hacker captain,” he laughed.

Slatter is an easy man to interview – he has a ready laugh – and at the age of 78 he still plays off a very respectable 22.

He’s well-known in the club – he’s held the position of social chairman in the past – and it’s easy to see why he’s been president for so long since taking over from Peter Jones.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “You don’t have to do too much, just shake a few hands when there’s a special occasion!”

There’s obviously a bit more to it than that, of course, and Slatter is certainly keen to champion everything that is good about golf.

“I enjoy the companionship,” said Slatter, who also played a bit of cricket when he was younger. “I play all my sport so that I can have a drink afterwards.

“With golf you get a good walk, it’s a good sport.”

And it’s a challenging one too, so what areas of his game would Slatter like to improve?

“We’d all like to drive better, wouldn’t we,” he said. “Also my chipping, that could improve, but my putting isn’t too bad.”

If Slatter needs any tips he could always turn to his wife Glo who is a very decent golfer.

“She’s captain of the A team,” he said. “She’s a good golfer, she plays off 15 or 16.”

Slatter says they don’t play against each other too often but they certainly both enjoy playing at Tewkesbury Park.

“There’s plenty of fairway to aim at, you can really open your shoulders,” he said.

“The greens are very good too, they run very well, and the bunkers are in good order.

“It’s a lovely course, Paul Hathaway looks after it very well.

“We’ve also got a very good pro in Mark Fenning, he’s a very busy man.”

Slatter clearly likes his golf so if he had the chance, which other course would he really like to play?

“Augusta, that would be really special,” he said. “Just to walk around it would be something else.”