My first year of having the privilege of looking after the MGS Handicaps.  2025 was a fantastic year for the MGS in which we played golf every month and also had a fabulous tour to France.  

We had 35 individuals (40 in 2024, 42 in 2023) join us this year at our monthly golf outings – a good number. Our lowest attendance was 18 in May, which was a surprise for Kings Hill and this was due to a number of holidays. Our highest being 27 in June at the Nevill GC.  Our average was 22 individuals attending each meeting (23.5 in 2024, 21.7 in 2023) which is great with a hard core of regulars being available month on month. 

The highest average scoring event during the year was a surprise, as it was Cooden 34.2, beating the normal winner Seaford Head 33.4.  The lowest scoring event was at Pyecombe with an average score of just 26.22 (2024: 26.22 Seaford Blatchington, 2023: 27.21 at Dale Hill).  The overall average stableford points score for the season was 31.33 (2024: 31.40; 2023 31.83). 

It was again pleasing to see that the silverware for the year was distributed evenly across the membership, apart from John Collingwood winning 2 trophies. 

The highest points scores this year were by James Gallifant 44 (Kings Hill) and Pete Smith 43 (Cooden). There were 8 other scores in the 40 club (a reduction from the 18 achieved in 2024).  The best gross score was by Alan Bigley with a 2 over par 74 at Sweetwoods. 

Again, worthy of note was the speed of the rounds this year which were generally conducted at a very good pace – so well done all.

A big thank you as always to Hon Sec Mark Hughes, Captain Kevin Leftley, Treasurer James Gallifant and Player Rep Alan Bigley for their hard work throughout the year.  As always worthy of a special mention again is our excellent website, orchestrated by Jerry Watkiss which keeps members abreast of events and gives advance notice of tee times and publishes the very latest results.

MGS SILVERWARE WINNERS 2025

Trophy	Winner(s)
Golfer of the Year	John Collingwood
Mad March Jugs	David Howroyd & Kevan Gill
Spring Tour (France)	Richard Hannam
Anniversary Trophy	James Gallifant
Society Strokeplay Championship	Andy Williams
Society Stableford Competition	John Collingwood
MGS Foundation Trophy (Captains Day)	John Miller
Mayfield Cup	Pete Smith
GBH Trophy	Richard Hannam & Tony Willmott
Last Chance Trophy	John Collingwood

SOCIETY TOURS 2025

Richard, Alan and Kevin stood on the last tee with Richard on 87, Alan on 86 and Kevin on 85… but it was going to be tough for Alan as he wasn’t getting a shot. Both Kevin and Richard hit the green in 2, while Alan missed right. A three putt left Alan with nil points, but Kevin rolled in his birdie putt for a 3 for 4. Richard lagged his birdie putt next to the hole and a 4 for 3 which was enough to win by a point. So a close finish, but not really tense as they didn’t know how close it was until they added up the scores!

So, it is congratulations to Richard Hannam who edged out Captain Kev by just the one point on the final hole to win the Spring Trophy for 2025 – a great finish.

Overall Top 5

Pos	Player	Points
1st	Richard Hannam	90
2nd	Kevin Leftley	89
3rd	Alan Bigley	86
4th	Keith Townsend	85
5th	Peter Cudmore	82

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A big thank you goes to Alan Bigley (and others) for organising the whole shooting match and the drivers for getting us to and from France safely. 

INDIVIDUAL MONTHLY WINNERS 2025

Month	Comp	Course	Individual Winner	Score	Runner Up	Score
Jan-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Lewes	Tony Willmott	38	David Howroyd	38
Feb-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Pyecombe	Andrew Jenner	37	John Collingwood	35
Mar-25	Mad March Jugs	Eastbourne Downs	Kevan Gill	42	Kelvin Patterson	39
Apr-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	The Dyke	Kevan Gill	39	Rod Lunn	38
May-25	Anniversary Trophy	Kings Hill	James Gallifant	44	Joe Caroll	42
Jun-25	Strokeplay Shield	Nevill	Andy Williams	Nett 72	Mark Hughes	Nett 74
	Stableford Shield		John Collingwood	40	James Gallifant	38
Jul-25	MGS Foundation Trophy	Sweetwoods	John Miller	40	Kevin Leftley(countback)	40
Aug-25	Mayfield Cup	Cooden	Pete Smith	43	Phil Taylor	39
Sep-25	GBH Trophy	Dale Hill	Richard Hannam	42	John Collingwood	37
Oct-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Copthorne	Guy Barker	36	Stuart Bourne(countback)	36
Nov-25	Last Chance Trophy	Seaford Head	John Collingwood	42	Guy Barker	39

 

 

 

 

TEAM WINNERS 2025

Month	Comp	Course	Team Winners	Score	Team Runners Up	Score
Jan-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Lewes	Graham Smith, John Collingwood, Andrew Jenner, Rod Lunn	86	Richard Hannam, David Howroyd, Stuart Bourne, Simon Luck	85
Feb-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Pyecombe	Richard Hannam, Rob Montague, John Miller, Kevan Gill	107	Mark Hughes, Scott Wightman, Andrew Jenner, Peter Alfieri	105
Mar-25	Mad March Jugs	Eastbourne Downs	David Howroyd & Kevan Gill	107	Andrew Jenner & Keith Townsend	104
Apr-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Dyke	Alan Bigley, James Gallifant, Keith Townsend, Stuart Bourne	104	Rod Lunn, Rob Montague, Kevan Gill, Guy Barker	101
May-25	Anniversary Trophy	King Hill	Guy Barker, John Collingwood, Joe Carroll	118	Tony Willmott, Stuart Bourne, Will Lunn, Peter Alfieri	103
Jun-25	Strokeplay & Stableford Shields	Nevill	Phil Taylor, Chris Taylor (Guest), Graham Meadows, Keith Townsend	105	Graham Smith, Mark Hughes, Rob Weavers, Will Lunn	99
Jul-25	MGS Foundation Trophy	Sweetwoods	Jerry Watkiss, Alan Bond, Phil Taylor, Will Lunn	127	Rod Lunn, Graham Meadows, Kevan Gill, Kevin Leftley	126
Aug-25	Mayfield Cup	Cooden	Mark Hughes, Peter Cudmore, Phil Taylor, Peter Smith	109	Scott Wightman, Stuart Bourne, Rob Weavers	103
Sep-25	GBH Trophy	Dale Hill	Richard Hannam & Tony Willmott	52	Graham Smith & Andrew Burnett	48
Oct-25	Monthly Individual Stableford	Copthorne	Kelvin Patterson, John Miller, Kevan Gill	100	Peter Alfieri, Phil Taylor, Scott Wightman	94
Nov-25	Last Chance Trophy	Seaford Head	Tony Willmott, Jerry Watkiss, Kelvin Patterson, Scott Wightman	110	Joe Carroll, Graham Meadows, Phil Taylor, Stuart Bourne	108

25 different members were on a winning team this year which is good to see.  However, the real team player was Kevan Gill being on a winning team three times. 

MGS 2025 APPEARANCES 

Well done to Captain Kevin Leftley & Rod Lunn who attended every event this season.

ALFIERI, Peter	9
BIGLEY, Alan	8
BOND, Alan	4
BOURNE, Stuart	9
BUCK, Chris	5
BURNETT, Andrew	7
CARROLL, Joe	7
COLLINGWOOD, John	9
CUDMORE, Peter	4
GALLIFANT, James	6
GOULDING, Frank	4
GILL, Kevan	10
HANNAM, Richard	6
HOWROYD, David	7
HUGHES, Mark	7
JENNER, Andrew	5
LEFTLEY, Kevin	11
LUCK, Simon	2
LUNN, Will	5
LUNN, Rod	11
MANN, Michael	0
MEADOWS, Graham	7
MILLER, John	7
MONTAGU, Rob	7
PATERSON, Kelvin	4
SMITH, Graham	7
SMITH, Peter	9
TAYLOR, Phil	10
TOWNSEND, Keith	7
UNDERWOOD, Adrian	3
WATKISS, Jerry	7
WEAVERS, Rob	7
WIGHTMAN, Scott	9
WILLIAMS, Andy	6
WILLMOTT, Tony	9
BARKER, Guy	6

40 POINTS PLUS CLUB 2024

10 players were in the 40 point plus club this year as follows: –

MGS Member	Score	Course
James Gallifant	44	Kings Hill
Pete Smith	43	Cooden
Kevan Gill	42	Eastbourne Downs
Joe Carroll	42	Kings Hill
Richard Hannam	42	Dale Hill
John Collingwood	42	Seaford Head
Guy Barker	40	Kings Hill
John Collingwood	40	Nevill
Kevin Leftley	40	Sweetwoods
John Miller	40	Sweetwoods

Congratulations to James and Pete and indeed to all the above. All these scores resulted in a handicap haircut for the individual concerned which the Handicap Secretary took probably too much pleasure in executing!

SPECIALIST EVENTS 2025

We always try to make these interesting with nearest the pin on a par 3 and a nearest the pin in 2 or 3 as our specialist holes – hopefully giving everyone a good chance of being in the running for a small prize.

NEAREST PIN IN ONE OR TWO 2025

Month	Course	Nearest the Pin	Nearest the Pin in Two or Three
Jan-25	Lewes	Peter Alfieri	Kevin Leftley
Feb-25	Pyecombe	Mark Hughes	Phil Taylor
Mar-25	Eastbourne Downs	Alan Bigley	Stuart Bourne
Apr-25	Dyke	Alan Bigley	Tony Willmott
May-25	Kings Hill	Andrew Jenner	Will Lunn
Jun-25	Nevill	Stuart Bourne	Guy Barker
Jul-25	Sweetwoods	Rod Lunn – 5thKevin Leftley – 7thJohn Miller – 15thRod Lunn 17th	Alan Bigley
Aug-25	Cooden	Stuart Bourne	Graham Meadows
Sep-25	Dale Hill	Stuart Bourne	Graham Smith
Oct-25	Copthorne	John Collingwood	Phil Taylor
Nov-25	Seaford Head	Peter Alfieri	Pete Smith

Seventeen different winners which is great to see – No individual dominating this event this year. However, this year we saw Stuart Bourne (4 times) and Alan Bigley (3 times) taking the most bottles of wine.

MGS BIRDIES AND TWO’S: –

The table below sets out those who have made Eagles, Birdies & Two’s in the season.  

Player	Eagles		Player	Birdies (2 or more)
Guy Barker	1		Alan Bigley	13
			Rod Lunn	9
			Richard Hannam	7
			Andrew Burnett	7
			Alan Bond	6
			Pete Smith	4
			Phil Taylor	4
Player	2s		Guy Barker	3
Rod Lunn	4		Tony Willmott	3
Peter Alfieri	1		Andy Williams	3
Alan Bigley	1		John Miller	3
Alan Bond	1		Kevan Gill	3
John Collingwood	1		Peter Alfieri	3
Kevan Gill	1		Stuart Bourne	2
Richard Hannam	1		Mark Hughes	2
Mark Hughes	1		Andrew Jenner	2
Graham Smith	1		Kevin Leftley	2
Andy Williams	1		Graham Meadows	2
			Kelvin Patterson	2

One superb eagle from Guy Barker this year.  We must be due a hole in one in 2026 – the last one I believe was achieved in 2008!! Well done to Alan Bigley for comfortably topping the birdie table and to Rod Lunn for converting the most two’s on the par 3’s.