. . . So said Captain Kevin in a brief moment of post lunch clarity and to the slightly bewildered look from Brian behind the bar! Its good to know our 2025 Captain has our safety in mind and our forthcoming season is in safe hands.

Other than Kev’s insightful comments, the Middle House again provided the venue for the grand finale to a terrific 2024 season. An excellent turn out of some 24 members were treated to some excellent food and company.

MGS AGM

Reports were received from our outgoing Captain Chris Buck, Secretary Mark Hughes and, on his last occasion, from Handicap secretary Mr Micky Mann. There was also a report from our Treasurer Mr James Gallifant though the details on the paper handout was I think was more coherent than the audible one!!! Suffice to say though, that the society accounts are in good order and thanks must go to James for keeping things on the straight and narrow.

As mentioned Micky Mann gave his final report after ten years of keeping a set of amazing player stats with just enough handicap manipulation to keep members on their toes. For most current members he has been the only handicap sec that have known and his ability to decipher the score cards after each round was truly astonishing. He was presented with an engraved glass tankard and hope we will continue to see him regularly as he moves to pastures new in Suffolk.

Graham Smith has now stepped into the breach so we will see how his interpretation of members handwriting skills turns out. Good luck with that one Graham!

It was also the occasion when the years Vice Captain was elected with Andrew Burnett accepting the nomination and unanimously elected. We look forward with great anticipation to some great but improved tossing as part of his new role.

Shabby end

With the formalities of the day over and the further consumption of one or two glasses, members adjourned to the bar to further discuss the issues of the day and in some cases the World. It’s extraordinary how easy it is to resolve problems after a few beers! With an ongoing stream of friendly banter continuing, a hardy few ended the evening in the Rose & Crown where I’m afraid any accurate memories are somewhat limited – so you will just have to imagine!

The calendar of 2025 events is available on this website so get the dates in your diary. In the meantime have a great Christmas everyone and see as many of you who can make it at Lewes in January.

A separate reminder will go out to renew your membership in due course

A quick summary of the mornings golf for those who forgot they played in the morning

An early start at Holtye for 9 holes of Texas Scramble saw 5 hardy teams of 4 turn up wearing a mixture of golf and christmas attire.  The dilemma for each team was the use of 2 drives for each individual which caused a great deal of discussion on each hole.  The biggest cheer came from the eventual winning group when Kelvin’s 4th drive managed to hit a fairway, after the previous 3 had gone all over the place and not very far!

The winning team (Micky, Chris, Kelvin and Adrian) went round in level par, with the other teams not far behind.  This was our first outing at Holtye since the closure of Dewlands and although wet, was enjoyed by all and unanimously got the thumbs up as the venue for next year.