The 2026 BRGS AGM was held at The Manor Golf Club on Thursday 27th August 2026.

Here are the minutes from the AGM.

 

2026 Leeds British Rail Golf Society AGM, Secretary notes.

AGM held at The Manor Golf Club on Thursday 27th August 2026 & commenced at 1600. 23 in attendance

1. Apologies were sent from anyone not in attendance. Saves me typing a load of names

2. Minutes from 2025 AGM.

These were handed out to the group. A chance to question anything contained within them was offered & there were none. The minutes were proposed as a true reflection by Pete Ferris, seconded by Adrian Hope & signed off.

3. BRGS Secretary report

The circumstances that brought me here for the 2026 season are well known & I’d like to pass on my gratitude to Alan, Ian & Nigel who felt enough trust in me to run the society this year. This is the 49th year the BRGS has been running so to be given that trust to take us through 2026, into 2027 & our 50th year has been a great privilege.

Up to press, we have seen a total of 164 members join our Society days this year & that is a fantastic turn out. I am very grateful for your cooperation, prompt replies to emails & payments made into the account. Not only do these great turnouts generate much needed funds for the society, but they also make the time it takes to plan & book these days worthwhile.

My hope for the final BRGS day at The Bradford Golf Club & heading into the 2027 season, you will continue to support the society by turning out in your numbers again.

I have also placed on record to each club individually our gratitude for how they have looked after us & I’ve always tried to remember to do a little collection for the staff at the end of each day so thank you for all your contributions. Which reminds me………… (Started collection)

The weather has been very good for us on all our days (Edit: NOT AT THE MANOR IT WASN’T), we haven’t been drowned & we haven’t melted although there have been some pink arms & legs at the end of some days.

I’ve really enjoyed running the Society this year & seeing so many of you turning up has been fantastic. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your support.

4. Treasurer Report

BRGS DRAFT ACCOUNTS AS OF 31st JULY 2026

Cash in account:                                                            £759.04

Deposits due back in 2026:                                        £300.00

Estimated subs for remaining events:                     £48.00

2027 Deposits paid:                                                    £200.00

Overpayments received:                                            £56.00

2026 closing balance:                                                £1251.04

The treasurer, who wasn’t at the AGM has advised he will do a full years accounts after the season has ended.

The report was proposed as by Adam Littlewood, seconded by Roger Worth & signed off as correct at the time of writing.

4a. A lively discussion took place regarding subs going forward which the secretary noted lasted just shy of 25 minutes. The secretary spoke of the need to look at raising subs with a two-fold reason behind this. Firstly was the Golf Clubs asking for larger deposits for each BRGS day & secondly, to look at replacing some of the damaged trophies we have. The trophy situation was resolved by offers of trophies from Billy Milne & Pete Ferris as well as Lee Wetherill offering to look at & repair some of our current trophies. The deposit issue remains a major one as there is a reasonably good chance that the funds we currently hold won’t be enough to pay 2027 deposits. After much too-ing & fro-ing & several ideas put forward, it was unanimously voted in to introduce an initial £5 subs payment for the 2027 season followed by £2 subs per day thereafter. This will be for the 2027 season only, where hopefully by the end of the 2027 season, we’ll have built up a good bank account balance to return to a simple £2 subs per day in 2028. The secretary placed on record his gratitude to Billy for offering to donate 2 trophies.

4b. The method of advance payment to the BRGS Account, cash prize fund on the day & Members booking and paying for their own buggies will continue into the 2027 season.

5. Handicaps

The handicaps at the end of the 2026 season will all be rolled over to the 2027 season. The next planned WHS adjustment, based on the 3 year reset agreed at the 2024 AGM, will take place at the end of the 2027 season.

6. 2027 Fixtures

Woolley Park has already been secured at the same price as 2026 & a £200 deposit paid. Several courses were put forward as venues for 2027. From what the secretary noted, the following courses will be considered for 2027 and contact made. Based on 7 or 8 events in 2027.

Richmond, Horsforth, The Manor, Normanby Hall (27 Holes), Sandhills, Headingley, Moortown, Wath, Bingley St Ives, Northcliffe, Silkstone, Halifax Ogden, Crossland Heath & Thirsk/ Northallerton. We will do our best to secure some new courses & revisit previous ones and also do our best to secure the best price possible. Please note though that clubs are becoming increasingly reluctant to do deals, Richmond being a prime example who want an extra £16pp for 2027 compared to 2026. So off-putting this is, we are looking at a possibility of removing lunch from Richmond to save cash.

7. Election of Officials

The secretary notified the members that he would be standing down at the end of the 2026 season as Ian Dyson had decided he would be prepared to return to the secretary role in 2027. There were no further applicants for the secretary role so Ian was duly voted in. It will be great to see him back in 2027.

The Treasurer advised he was happy to continue in the role into 2027. There were no further applicants so Alan Ashbee was voted in to continue the great work he is doing.

The Handicap committee currently consists of Nigel Owram & Ian Dyson. Both indicated they were prepared to continue their roles and with no further applicants, were duly voted in.

8. Any other Business.

A suggestion to make any 27 hole days we book a team event for the morning 9 holes & individual event for the afternoon 18 holes was proposed by Wayne Jackson. Whilst this wouldn’t work for the Richmond Trophy, it was agreed it should be looked at if there are any further 27 hole days in the future.

Ian Dyson gave a small speech in which he thanked the Secretary for all his efforts in 2026 & for standing in during his absence. The group as a whole concurred with Ian’s sentiments & said they’d enjoyed the year and were grateful for the job the secretary had done.

The floor was opened up to any further questions or comments but no were forthcoming so the buffet was opened & meeting closed at 1702.

Hopefully these reflect what you recall of the AGM, some of my notes weren’t very legible so if anyone would like to see any corrections/ additions, please let me know ASAP

 

This years Hickling trophy was played for at Low Laithes Golf Club.  Another superb turnout of 24 players took to a barren & rock hard course with Sunday night’s rainfall doing nothing to soften up the fairways. The greens were cracking though and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day. Whilst we hit some speckles of rain early on, we played mostly in glorious sunshine albeit a stiff breeze swept across the course which along with the dry conditions, made the course a tricky adversary.

A buffet full English was enjoyed before taking to the course.

Onto the prizes:

With there only being 3 par 3 holes, 2’s were difficult enough and more so with firm greens. So much so, there was only one player taking the kitty, ME!!!!!!!!! And let me tell you about it. Hitting a sweet pitch wedge that I thought was all over the flag, I was a bit disappointed to see that my ball had rolled to the back of the green leaving me with a 40 footer back across the green. Turned out it was nothing more than a mere tap in.

Nearest The Pins were…. Lee Wetherill (Hole 4), Alan Ashbee (Hole 8) & Roger Worth (Hole 12)

The all important main prizes………

Third place …..Craig Allen with 37 Points.

Second Place…..Stewart Cochrane, 38 points.

First Place & the winner of the 2025 Hickling Trophy…… Joe Cooper with a fantastic 42 point haul.

Well played Joe and well done to all others who won a prize.

The average score for the day was 30 Points so the buffer Zone sits from 27 to 33.

26 down gets a shot back

34 gets a shot off & 35 points and above loses 2!!

Handicap page has been updated.

Next up is the AGM trophy which will be held at The Manor Golf Club, Driglington. This is a 2 meal – 18 hole stableford day and sometime after the golf, we’ll do the presentation & AGM. The meal after the golf is also yet TBC as I’m trying to get the club to do us a hot buffet. Will report back on that when I open up bookings in the next week or so.

Thank you to all who attended, another great turn out which whilst adding much needed funds into the society’s funds, it also makes my time organising the days very worth while & it is very much appreciated.

The Mel Smart Memorial day was held at Wath Golf Club, a new venue for us. I think it’s fair to say the course impressed us all and despite the greens being a bit slow, the course in general was superbly presented, a good challenge with lots of plotting your way around. Thankfully, the recent molten lava weather had a day off and we had a milder day but the sun shone all day and there were some pink arms and legs come the last group holing out on the 18th.

Onto the results.

4 twos were recorded, Stuart Cochrane, Adam Littlewood, Jon Winner & Luke Worrillow.

The par 3 5th & 15th was won by Keith Barnes & the 17th won by Craig Allen.

Finishing 3rd, with a net 73 was Craig Allen

Second, on countback with a net 71, Wayne Jackson

And taking not only the Mel Smart Memorial Trophy, but also the lowest gross score of the day, with a gross 77, net 71 was Adam Littlewood.

A banging round, well done Adam.

The general consensus was to return to Wath next year so I’ll add that to the 2027 list for the AGM, although I will see if the Club will lock in this years price if I book and pay a deposit. Woolley have done so hoping Wath may follow suit.

Next up is the Richmond Trophy, held at Richmond Golf Club. Always a popular day, we will have 3 meals and play a 9 hole medal followed by 18 hole stableford and in a nutshell, the lowest figure (even a minus figure) will take home the trophy. (More headache calculating for me!!!!). I’m limited to 28 spaces for this day so once I open bookings, please get your names down sooner rather than later. Invite for Richmond will go out sometime next week.

Thanks to the 25 who turned out today, your support is very much appreciated & valued.

Pete