MGS History
The Mandhata Golf Society came of age in 2020, this is our story………
On a cold December evening in Harrow, a few friends are chatting, sipping beer huddled over a low table munching peanuts and crisps, waiting to welcome the New Millennium. “At MYCA we have been watching from the sidelines, this sport that has been the preserve of an elite affluent minority. Do you think we should introduce this sport to our MYCA members!”. The idea to add golf to the many other sporting activities (Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton, Kho Kho) MYCA members participate in, was born 21 years ago, a bold and courageous step, a desire and vision to make our community more vibrant and to encourage new members to take part.
The pioneers, initiated by Kishorebhai, the President of MYCA at the time, began with a tutorial starter pack offered by the Elstree Golf Course for eight weeks at the cost of only £50 with a golfing iron included in the deal. It was encouraging to see a few ladies also took part in this training. Following the tutorial, a small group of friends started to play golf regularly, mainly on weekends.
This continued for several years with player numbers gradually increasing.In 2005, the few golfers started to formalise the games into competitions. Six rounds through the year between April and September mainly played on Fridays. The average group size at this stage was around ten to twelve people. This allowed the group to play at some very private golf courses, which improved both player’s game and stimulated social activity.
In 2008 as the numbers began to increase, the then president, Ratibhai donated two prize cups for the overall winner and runner-up of the year, from the Mandhata Youth & Community Association.In the following years, various members donated trophies for various elements of the game of golf: MGS Championship Winner Trophy – donated by MYC
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MGS Championship Runner-up Trophy - donated by MYCA
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The Logic 3 Trophy - Seniors Cup – donated by Logic 3 plc
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The Prabhubhai Memorial PAR 3 Trophy – donated by Harish, Kirit & Ajay Patel
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The Sumantbhai Memorial Most Improved Player Trophy – donated by Shamir Patel
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The Dahiben & Dajibhai Patel Memorial Player’s Player of the Year Trophy – donated by Hasmukh Patel.
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Govind-Ganga Memorial 60+ high handicappers Trophy - Donated by Jivanbhai and Shakuben Patel
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MGS Memorial Winner and Runner Up Cups
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MGS Memorial Winner and Runner Up Plate
In 2012 a small group of golfers broke away from MGS to form a separate society called Rafiki. The aim of this group was to improve individual’s games to a higher level, playing with better players. Although this was a breakaway group, as friends they still participated in MGS games.
In 2016, the Society began to grow, having just 6 rounds a season seemed not to be enough, it was at this time a singles cup and plate competition was introduced, with players match play taking into account their society handicaps. Also in 2016 the society started to host a Captains Evening to help stimulate more socialising between members and friends. This has been very successful and has encouraged new members to join and start to play golf. Over the years our member golfers organised trips to exotic locations to enjoy this game in Europe and further afield. below a trip to Portugal.
In Dec 2017 one of the sponsors Kiritbhai Patel, sadly passed away unexpectedly. 2017 was a significant year for the society to grow and develop to become the organisation it is today, we became more formal by appointing a committee consisting of 5 members (Captain, Treasurer, Secretary, Handicap Secretary, Committee Member and Auditor), this was to help further develop MGS into new areas. In this same year, MGS also commissioned its own logo and polo shirts, which when over thirty-two player are on the course, makes the society look very professional. I am sure at a point in time the shirts will become collector items.
Bharatbhai started to promote the idea of a country wide golf competition, which is played between various UK towns under the Association of Mandhata Samaj UK (AMSUK) umbrella. This idea was taken up in 2017 and implemented by players mainly from MGS headed up by Nareshbhai. Over the last two years this competition has been won by MGS Wembley, which was primarily made up of MGS members. In fact, quite a few of the MGS players represented other UK towns as their allegiance was with their hometowns. The plan is that this concept will be adapted by the Youth Forum of AMSUK and included as a sport in the Youth Festival events.
Over the following years of playing golf, three players managed to achieve the ultimate prize of a “hole-in-one”. This was achieved by Jaishreeben Patel (yes, a lady player) in 2012, Lalit Shah in 2019 and most recently by Naresh.We also had a player in the society that played with a very low handicap of only 5, Rajeshbhai Patel who sadly passed way in May 2017 after an illness. A few members are playing from the low teens, showing the improvement in the standard of golf.
Over the years the society has had many Captains to head up MGS, namely Kishore, Ketan, Chan, Kaushik, Jivanbhai, Arun and recently Naresh. Currently the 2021 Captain is Magan.
The society now holds a number of competitions; this includes the original 6 games in the year, match play competitions, which is a test between individuals and a team Ryder Cup, which is played in the Spring and Autumn generally over the weekend.To help promote better communication within the society, MGS has a web site (www.mgs-golf.com) operated by Bhupendra and more recently supported by Kantibhai from Marlow. This shows results and pictures of past games. Some of the members, when they are in India on vacation as NRI’s have also started to play golf in Baroda and Ahmedabad and Pune in India. This has helped to spread the spirit of the society internationally, which can only lead to better things.MGS is a very successful society with nearly 50 members (age group 20 years to 80 years), encouraging the playing of golf, socialising and recruiting new people to join the society. Our Society is made up from players from various geographical areas naming a few, Derby, Kent, Marlow and Luton.
The best element of golf for the players that walk the course is, completing 10k steps which is the recommended level of daily exercise. This is fantastic for those who enjoy playing the game
As MGS celebrates its 21st year, all members are hoping that the society will continue to grow with new members and continue the spirit of the society.
We would like to thank all those who have supported MGS over the years and Kaushik I Patel for writing this paper timelining our journey.
Good luck fellow golfers.
