Golf
The Aldermaston Golf Society was established in 1954, for like-minded individuals interested in a challenging day of fun, for players of all abilities who are happy to lose golf balls. This still applies today with handicaps ranging from ‘single figures’ to ‘quite a lot’. The Society also has a charitable purpose and makes donations to worthy causes.
We play approximately 10 outings per year, once a month from February to November. These outings comprise of tea and coffee on arrival with breakfast baps, sometimes a ‘Full English’, and 18 holes of golf. We then finish the outing with a few drinks and a prize giving. There are occasionally 36-hole outings where we have a light lunch in between the two 18 holes.
All of the outings are played on a non-working Friday, and are mostly within an hour’s travel time of Aldermaston.
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Dear Golfers,
It’s an honour to serve as your Aldermaston Golf Society (AGS) Captain for the 2026 season. For anyone who’s ever played a round of golf with me and survived, you’ll know that the AGS caters for golfers of all levels! It’s the enjoyment we get from playing, and from the friendships we have built that make this Society so special.
Last year was both fantastic and tough in equal measures. At the end of 2024 we lost our long-serving secretary and friend, Don Campbell (Captain 2014 – AGS 60th Anniversary Captain). Our Society came together in 2025 to keep his legacy going by sharing the secretary role he so diligently undertook to make every outing a success. We were pleased to introduce a new competition last year, and his presence will be felt at every outing, especially when we compete for the Campbell Cup in his memory.
We also sadly lost another great friend and cornerstone of our society in 2025, Billy Watson. Billy was one of our longstanding members serving as a committee member and as Captain in 2004 (AGS 50th Anniversary Captain) and again in 2020. His joy was infectious, and we miss him dearly. Billy will no doubt feature in many a conversation whenever we get together, with fond memories being shared.
I’d like to take a moment for some quick thank yous! Firstly, to the Aldermaston Recreational Society, thank you for funding a brand-new Captains Shield last year – our rich history means we are starting to run out of space on some of the Silverware. To Mikey Wilson, our Captain for 2025, thank you for all your hard work behind the scenes and helping to make 2025 a great season of golf. To Georgie Braginton, well done and thank you for arranging the Away Day at The Belfry last summer. It was a great event, and I’m pleased you have accepted the nomination as Vice-Captain for 2026. And to Dave Osborne our Treasurer, thank you for staying on top of all the finances and I look forward to seeing the updated final totals we can give to our 2025 nominated charities, the British Heart Foundation and the NSPCC.
In 2026 our charitable mission continues. My nominated Captain’s Charities for this year are Prostate Cancer UK and SWAT (a Reading based charity supporting homeless and vulnerable). We will also support the NSPCC with our pairs competition when we play for the NSPCC Trophies and Putters.
Over the past year our Society has grown, and it is great to see new members joining and being welcomed like old friends. I look forward to the year ahead and playing a small part the in the continued success of the Society since it was founded in 1954.
Here's to a great season ahead! Fore, Right!
Dario Castiglione
AGS Captain 2026
What to expect from a typical outing…
Outing Report: Test Valley – 16th February 2024
The society is off and running for the 2024 season, and much like every outing, we had a blast at Test Valley, a course known to play well in the winter months.
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As tradition states, the Captain always tees off first, welcoming Dave W into the role was an impeccable 30-yard drive to the left; he would argue this went 50 yards… we’ll see how the nerves hit him on subsequent outings!
Normally playing off temporary tees would put a bee in our golfers’ bonnets, well not today… on the 2nd green Mikey ended up catching a bee in his pocket, causing some minor disturbance to those still putting!
Sticking with the 1st, it would appear Ollie came back from the winter break as a boxing official, when he smashed his drive into the pole on the driving range sending a loud ‘ding ding ding’ through the course.
Terry had his ups and downs, but mainly ups, consistently scoring 3 points on a number of holes, even getting a 4 for 4 with an outrageous 30-foot putt; all this whilst Mikey and Billy F were having fun at the beach!
A couple of honourable mentions; we wish Jim Sharp a fast recovery after hurting his back when playing an air shot on the 16th! And Richard Jones, takes some skill to get a ball out of the water, even if it was the second attempt and getting soaked in the process!
Treasurer Dave O was off to a flying start, 19 points through the front 9, only to blob the next 4 holes leaving him out of contention, but Dave B was back with a bang on his home course; couldn’t do anything wrong all day and managed to walk into the clubhouse with 40 points taking the first win of the season.
Congratulations to Andy G taking second place, and also the twos competition, the only golfer to make a 2 today, despite the bucket of a hole we had on the 9th!
‘Nearest the Pin’ was won by Dave O and it was Allan who won the ‘Nearest the Pin in 2’ competition. Enjoy the wine Chaps!
We had a few new members join us on this outing, so big welcome to Fred, Chris and Justin. We hope you enjoy the season ahead!
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