Nick Williams still clearly remembers the day, over 40 years ago when he joined St Enodoc Golf Club – March 16, 1981.

He arrived from St. Mellion Golf Club just down the road which at the time was a very modern country club boasting all the mod cons. St Enodoc on the other hand was a rather antiquated members club run by brigadiers and generals.

It was a life changing event he recalls: “The bulk of the membership was mostly retired gentlemen who played foursomes once or twice a week before disappearing into the clubhouse to play bridge in the afternoon.

“There were only a few keen golfers who were a good deal younger (in their mid 40s), a small number of enthusiastic youngsters – whom they referred to as ‘tigers’ – and a handful of ladies who played regularly but no juniors at all. So you had just 40 or 50 members playing serious golf as opposed to now when there are around 150 playing three or four times a week.”

Since then his role at the club has changed quite dramatically. When he first arrived he was in charge of how the golf course was set up properly every day, even going out with the greenkeepers to do the pin positions depending on the weather conditions, and time of year.

“Since then of course we have much more professional greenkeepers as opposed to the retired farmers who knew a bit about looking after grass that I was working with.”

At the start, it was just Williams in the pro shop, doing all the teaching, running the shop and helping out on the greenkeeping side – a tough juggling act back in those days, though there was not much business in the pro shop and teaching opportunities were limited. So much so that it was so quiet at times that he nearly left after two years.

However the golf club then had a change of direction and more golfers joined the membership which gave him the chance to develop the coaching side of things and get involved in some county teaching. At the same time, he instigated a junior section and developed the practice range into a full driving range.

Indeed the first 20 years at St Enodoc saw Williams devoting a lot of time to helping the club move in the right direction in terms of boosting members, expanding the junior section and enhancing the practice facilities. Before that St Enodoc had just been a place to play some holiday golf and little more.

For the following 20 years, he has continued to focus on supporting the club to move forward, and given his experience and longevity, is seen as the person to turn to for advice. When quizzed as to the biggest challenge he has faced in all his time at the club, Williams exclaims: “The internet! It has become the golf pros’ friend but originally it was very much the enemy.

“With internet pricing in the late 90s and early 2000s giving customers incredible discounts, we had a big battle on our hands and simply couldn’t compete with online sales. Now however we are able to match prices in our shop and at the same time offer a personal service and advice to members and visitors so we are back in business.”

Looking ahead, the veteran pro sees the way the golf professional operates in the future as a very different proposition to his experience.

“You are now required to have a degree to be a club professional as it is a completely different job to what it used to be. Because of that, the role of the golf pro will change dramatically as they will be able to help golf clubs in almost every aspect of the club in terms of membership, the pro shop, course maintenance and conditioning thanks to their qualifications.

“It’s a proper, professional job now,” concludes Williams.

As for his greatest source of enjoyment in his role, Williams unsurprisingly reveals that it is the golf course itself.

“I have spent 41 years working at a place where everyone else wants to spend their holidays! Just five minutes from my office, I can be out in the dunes enjoying a glorious walk with magnificent views. A lot of people spend millions of pounds on holiday homes to just spend a few weeks a year here whilst I spend my life here working at a job I love. I am very lucky indeed.”

He views St Enodoc as a genuine hidden gem with its charming location between the north Atlantic Ocean and the Camel River Estuary.

“The sea and channel views are quite simply magical, and it is a totally natural area of terrain as opposed to the man-made courses that you experience inland.

“The weather is generally very good most of the time thanks to the Gulf Stream running past us for most of the year which of course helps the conditioning of the course and is complemented by the free-draining sand of the dunes.”

Since his arrival, all 18 holes of the Church Course have been architecturally looked at by various golf course designers – including Peter McEvoy, Martin Hawtree and, more recently, American Tom Doak – and have subsequently evolved throughout his whole 41-year tenure. With William’s influence, the course has gradually improved over the years and continues to do so to this day.

One big change that during his career at the club is the rise of the second course at St Enodoc, the shorter, less challenging Holywell Course, which is thriving with the recent surge in interest in golf. Though it is difficult to compare the two courses as the Holywell is a completely different kind of layout, Williams is enthusiastic about it as a fantastic alternative to the championship Church Course.

“It’s a shorter 18 and allows those who are not the greatest of golfers to enjoy a round of golf without being punished by the course,” he explains. “Indeed it makes for a very pleasurable 18 holes for the average golfer which adds to the offering at St Enodoc.

“It is also a great track for beginners to play on and for mums and dads to take their kids out on to introduce them to the game. It’s still a challenging course as it tests every part of your game and you need to use every club in the bag but it’s not as tough as the main course. Let’s just say it is a bit more forgiving! From my point of view, it helps get people into the game of golf which is great.”

Moreover the Holywell is no afterthought in terms of care and attention that it receives from a maintenance point of view. More often than not, second courses are not kept to the same standard as the main course but with the introduction of its own head greenkeeper, the Holywell now benefits from exactly the same treatment as the Church Course that ensures the same high quality course conditioning.

After 41 years of playing the Church Course, Williams still finds picking an all-time favourite golf hole extremely difficult, such is the quality of the James Braid layout.

“There is no real frontrunner as every hole is unique. There is honestly something about every single hole that makes them special and a pleasure to play. However the par 4, 4th hole is perhaps my favourite if pushed,” he says.

Despite his long-term tenure at St Enodoc, Williams has no plans to retire as he still enjoys the job so much and so sees no point in giving it up.

“I’m definitely not retiring any time now, but in four or five years time when I’m approaching 70, I may retire but I still love my job – the playing, the retailing side and the coaching so why would I want to retire.

“What is more, when the weather is good I’ll definitely try and get out on the course once a day. I have shot 64 twice around St Enodoc and shot 29 on both nines but not at the same time so I’m still aiming to shoot a magical 58 one day!”