NATAL NOMADS Golf Club Monthly issue Natal Nomads Newsletter Umhlali Golf Club January | Page 2

Captains Report Tom Barff, Captain 2019 [email protected] [email protected] Dear Nomads I wish you all the very best 2020 – may you be blessed with good health and better golf! Umhlali Country Club had the honour of hosting our first game of the year, in some sweltering heat. It’s always one of my favourite games of the year and I had a thoroughly enjoyable day out. I had the pleasure of playing with the Club Pro at Umhlali, Brendan Erasmus, against Richard Anderson and John Cole. We had a good game with the odd bit of quality golf thrown in as well. For the record, the Pro and I had to give up 25 shots to the distinguished pair of Anderson and Cole, but youth prevailed, with the good- looking guys coming through easily in the end with the full R50! Mark Chamberlain, the Captain of Umhlali unfortunately couldn’t play, but in my speech, I did thank him and his team for a great day – they went out of their way to make us welcome. The course was also in great condition and the greens were rolling nice and true. I was particularly pleased that Nomads was once again kindly offered a cash donation of R1000 as a thank you for the turnover taken at the bar - they clearly know how much potential we have in that department! On the day we had 5 guests: John Hazel, Paul Carter & Victor Damasio with Aryn Geekie; Dean Hamerick with John Veasey and Justin Ackerman with Chad Walters. We also had one waiting list member, Michael Hayes. We had 2 special presentations being a 15-year tie for Brian Findlay and a 450-game badge for Alan “Pinky” Gooderson. As is customary for non-century awards I took the opportunity to say a few words as Captain. Alan was inducted on 20 th February 1975 and has played 450 games in total. He is a past Captain (1988) and has been a fantastic and loyal sponsor at our monthly games and our Andrew Mentis golf days. Some of his Nomad’s career highlights include attending 35 National Tournaments; shooting 3 forty-pointers and winning the GP Cup 3 times. We have about 22 Nomads representing us at the Buffalo Nationals in East London in March 2020, and all is in readiness for what promises to be a great tournament. Our next game is Thursday 13 th February @ Athlone Golf Club I look forward to 2020 being a successful year for Natal Nomads. There is a lot of work to do, so please can we all continue to do our part in order to grow this Club by continually bringing in guests to experience the fund comradery at our monthly games. Kind Regards Tom Barff Natal Nomads Captain 083 225 5334 – [email protected]