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When Nick Williams took the head pro job at St Enodoc Golf Club in Cornwall, Ronald Reagan had recently been sworn in as US President, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer had just announced their engagement and forthcoming marriage and Tom Watson was about to win The Masters… Get the picture? It was a while ago!
If you can’t get it from the clues, Nick moved into the role as St Enodoc’s head professional in early 1981. Now, after 45 years in the position, he is stepping down and will officially retire in October.
Nick’s has been an incredible career and he has seen both St Enodoc Golf Club and the role of the club professional change significantly during the last five decades.
I had the chance to speak with Nick to find out more about his time at the famous Cornish club, to hear about the highlights and the challenges of his career and to find out what he plans to do next.
How did you come to take the job at St Enodoc?
I started on the 16th of March 1981. I had been the head teaching pro at St Mellion. I was just 24 at the time. A couple of the members at St Enodoc used to come for coaching and they encouraged me to apply for the head pro job at their club.
It had come up as another long-serving St Enodoc professional, Ernie Goodman, was stepping down (Goodman was head pro from 1956 to 1981).
I came for an interview and after discussions they decided the job was mine.
What was the club like then?
I wondered what I’d got myself in for at first. It was all rather old-fashioned. Lots of Brigadiers and Colonels. Not much golf was played. They probably played more bridge! A medal competition would only get about 10 entrants.
It was the 1980s but the club was still in the 1950s or 60s. They didn’t really think about the commercial side of things – I remember asking the secretary about the annual take on green fees – He didn’t know the answer.
It was quite a shock coming from St Mellion which was a far more business-like set-up.
And how has it changed?
When I came in, I wanted to help move the club forwards. To start coaching and bringing youngsters into the fold.
It was quite a challenge as there wasn’t the infrastructure here. I had multiple responsibilities and one of them was to look after course set-up – decide on the pins, sort out the standard scratch, that sort of thing. There was a lot to do.
But gradually we started to see younger people joining the club. Committees changed, people died. As with everything, things changed and moved on.
It's gone from a little committee run club to a managed situation where it’s run commercially.
But the course will never change. We are just custodians of the golf course, and it will always be there – it is so natural.
And St Enodoc became popular with visitors. How did that evolve?
I think the rise in interest and visitor numbers was as a direct result of improvements to the course that took place in the early 80s.
When I started, it was a lovely little course on the Cornwall coast, but it wasn’t well known. Only the members and the regular holidaymakers to the area knew about it.
But we got a great new greenkeeper in Stuart Diamond and he did an excellent job. Peter McEvoy came and oversaw alterations, and the layout was turned into a highly playable, competition-worthy one.
The condition improved and people started to take note. The committee began to see the benefits of attracting visitors. It enabled them to subsidise the membership and keep annual subscriptions low.
The course continued to be improved upon, and visitor numbers increased. More people became aware of St Enodoc and the process continued that way.
What have you enjoyed most, and found most rewarding about your time as pro at St Enodoc?
I think the most rewarding part is I work somewhere everybody wants to come. People come here during the precious time they have away from their city jobs.
I live here all the time. I can walk out of my office and be on the beach within 5 minutes walking my dogs!
And what have been the biggest challenges?
Well, it’s always the business side of things. Encouraging more people to come here, to use the course, to make use of the shop.
40 years ago, the club pro was a jack of all trades. He wore different hats. He had to be a retailer, a coach, a player, an expert on club repairs, a people person and an administrator. There was a lot to do!
Now, a professional is more specialised. Either they are a great fitter, a great player, a great coach or manager. Rarely are they more than one of those things. I think my era of the old-fashioned club professional is dying out.
You don’t see many who run a shop, have a director of golf style role and get through Open qualifying!
As a player, did you have competitive success?
I played in a lot of the local and regional events. I nearly went on the European Tour in the 1980s when I was offered a sponsorship. But I felt it was too risky at that time – prize money was nothing like it is today.
I reckoned I wasn’t quite good enough to beat Seve Ballesteros!
So I played around the region and enjoyed success in pro-ams and local tournaments. I suppose you could say it was like playing in the Championship rather than the Premiership!
I played in Open Final Qualifying in 1991 and narrowly missed out on making it into the field for Royal Birkdale that year.
What are the standout moments when you think back on 45 years at St Enodoc?
I think it’s the people you meet. I’ve met celebrities, film stars – Hugh Grant springs to mind. I’ve met people I would never have spoken to were it not for this job. It’s great in that respect.
I also had the chance to play with Tom Watson which was a highlight.
The general manager Tuck Clagett was good friends with Tom and the five-time Open champ came for a game. We played a round and that was a great honour. He’s a lover of links golf and it was great to see him plot his way round this course.
But, generally speaking, I’ve just loved meeting and getting to know the members. Going away with them to play in pro-ams or to Portugal or Spain for instance. I have great memories from those trips.
One of my favourite memories is playing in the Magnolia Cup over in Atlanta. It’s a sort of Ryder Cup between club pros from here and the USA. I was captain of the West of England golf association at that point. We played Peach Tree, East Lake, Atlanta Country Club – That was special.
What is it that makes St Enodoc such a special place to play and simply to visit?
Its natural beauty. The course has been redesigned several times, but really – the James Braid layout is still there. He used all the natural features of the area.
A lot of courses look manufactured these days. But you come to St Enodoc and it's so natural running beside the estuary and then looking out to sea. The views are just fantastic and on a nice sunny day, there's not a better place in the world.
It’s been a wonderful place to work all my life, and I hope to keep on enjoying it when I retire.
There are some courses that have a unique character to them – St Andrews or Muirfield for instance, you stand on the first tee and feel something different. St Enodoc has that too. It’s an electrifying place
What are your plans for retirement?
Funnily enough I do things other than golf as well! I’m a keen saltwater fisherman. I have my own little boat and go out fishing on the sea. I really enjoy that.
But I will continue to play golf. In fact, I think I will still play the odd pro-am. We go to Portugal in the winter and I’d like to keep doing that.
I will keep my toes dipped in the golfing water. But I won’t be too sad to be away from the 12 hour days at the golf club!
Overall, I’ll just continue enjoying St Enodoc!
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