We had a great day out at Reading Country club. I had the pleasure of playing with the Captain of Reading, Bradley Mower, David Brown who received his 40 year tie, and Gary De Klerk who is a good family friend of mine. David, it was an absolute honour that I could play with you on the occasion of reaching this Nomadic milestone. Congrats boy. Hopefully Bradley will be visiting us sooner than later for a few look see games. That’s if Mike Payne ever gets his proposal forms in.

I would really like to thank Eugene Marx for stepping up to the plate to do the fines session. Thanks Eugene.

We hosted the Highveld trophy on the 6^th August at Wanderers Golf Club. I played with Lester Areboe, the Captain of Northerns, and Matt Dudley, the Captain of Easterns. It was a fantastic day out with the boys. My joy at taking their cash was short lived when Easterns wiped the smile off my face by taking back the Trophy and ending our three year winning streak. Congratulations Matt, hopefully we will bring our A team next year! A big thanks to Kim and all the Wanderers staff for going out their way and making us feel truly welcome. Also big thanks to Tony Shaw for starting and handling the scorecards as well as to Antonio Rossetti from SAB for the fantastic ice cold beers at the 18^th.

We had fourteen Gauteng Nomads go down for the Southern Natal 30^th anniversary, which was held at MargateCountry Club from the 26^th-27^th July. I would like to thank Jimmy Reid and his committee for a great week-end, we certainly enjoyed the week-ends festivities. The Zimbabwe Nationals was held at Harare Country Club from the 2^ndAugust to the 7^th August at Royal Harare Golf Club. Barry Bruton and Byron Price made the trip up and by all accounts the tournament was a great success. The South African team managed to win the International Trophy and the Cusins Cup.

I would like to thank all our starters, Barry Bruton, Brian Mclean and Michael Heffill. Thanks guys, it’s always great to see the new Nomads starting, it is a fantastic way to get to know the boys. I hope to see more of the “newer” Nomads doing starter duties in the future.

Last but not least, to our ladies Bev and Roz, for helping out at the registration table. We really wouldn’t cope without all your help and effort you put in every month. We really, really do appreciate everything you do for us.

See you all at Parkview Golf Club on the 18^th September.

We had a great day out at Glenvista Country Club. We have played at Glenvista in the winter months for five years now. I am glad to inform you that we will be making a change next year, where we will be playing during the summer. Be that as it may, the greens at Glenvista were exceptional for July. They were running really true and were even holding with my longer irons. I had the pleasure of playing with the Captain of Glenvista, Paul Van Der Merwe, Tony Luyt who received his 30 year tie, and his son, Jamie “Killer Prawn”, who I am really good mates with. It meant a great deal to me to be able to present Tony his 30 year tie as Tony was my proposers into Nomads. Tony, it was anabsolute honour that I could play with you on the occasion of reaching this Nomadic milestone. Congrats boy.          

Our new winter kit was introduced and was by most accounts well received by the members. We will have the facility to order all Nomads kit directly on the website up and running soon. Please chaps let us all wear the correct kit.      

I would really like to thank Jamie Gowans for stepping up to the plate at the last minute to do the fines session. You had us in stitches, especially with your Saturday night fever rendition for Pat Gaffers, Pat, those bell bottoms boet,Eish!   I hope all past Captains don’t have to wear them! Thanks Gowie, I owe you one. I look forward to Eugene Marx dishing out a few fines at his home track, Reading, at next months game.  

We will be hosting the Highveld trophy on the 6^th August at Wanderers Golf Club, We have a full team with plenty names on the waitlist, I would just like to apologise to the members that an entry form was not sent out. There was a misunderstanding when I conveyed to Graham that it was his baby to organise the team for the day, which he duly did at the last two monthly games. It was a school boy error on our part and we certainly paid our school fees for the way it was handled. We have won the trophy for the last four years, so come on boys lets keep it in our cabinet for another year.        

On a sad note, we had the passing of Spero Marinaki’s father, Johnny, as well as the passing of his step mother, Lorna, two weeks prior to Johnny’s passing. Johnny was a former Nomad of 32 years. Spero, our thoughts are with you and your family. May they both rest in peace.    

We have fourteen Gauteng Nomads going down for the Southern Natal 30^th anniversary being held at MargateCountry Club from the 26^th-27^th July. I wish Jimmy Reid and his committee all the best for the upcoming weekend, I am sure we are all going to enjoy the week-ends festivities.          

I would like to thank all our starters, Graham Bishop, Sheldon Botha, Greg Yeoman and Tony Shaw. Thanks guys, it’s always great to see the new Nomads starting, it is a fantastic way to get to know the boys.  I hope to see more of the “newer” Nomads doing starter duties in the future.

Last but not least, to our ladies Roz, Wilma and Nic for helping out at the registration table. We really wouldn’t cope without all your help and effort you put in every month. We really, really do appreciate everything you do for us. Nic we hope you make a speedy recovery and you can swop you skirt for some golf pants sooner than later.         

See you all at Reading Country Club on the 14^th August.

What a fantastic day we had at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, albeit a really cold one! We haven’t played at Royal for a couple of years now, but it was great to be back. As usual the course was in excellent condition especially for this time of year! I am sure a lot of you will disagree but the course was playing nice and short. I was joined by Alan Field, a club committee member, Ronnie Sinclair and Colin Barlow. Ronnie was playing his 300^th game and Colin his 400^th game. What an achievement guys. It was an honour that I could play with you on the occasion of reaching these Nomadic milestones. A big thanks to Royal for their sponsorship of the curry on the evening, which was exceptional.        

 We had a Silver Salver for Allen Needham for our February game at Randpark’s Bushwillow course. Congrats Allen! It’s about time you collected it!

 I did mention at prize-giving that we looked like liquorice allsorts out on the course with all the different playing colours, Nike/Adidas sweaters and beanies. This has been addressed and the new Jackets, Beanies, Jerseys and thermal vests will be available to order online in the next couple of days and at all future games. Please guys we are proud of our kit so let’s make a concerted effort to get it right and embrace the newkit.         

 Prize-givings are going fairly smoothly at the moment, Graham and I are going to really make a concerted effort to lighten things up and make it a bit more humorous and fun for the boys. We finished prize-giving in under an hour, which is a first for me in 9 years of being a Nomad. This meant more time in the bar and we certainly made hay that evening.      

 I would really like to thank Paul Isaac, at 26 years of age, on a great fines session. I know you were nervous but you pulled through with flying colours. Thanks boytjie. I owe you a cold one. I look forward to seeing another new face, Kyle Smit, dishing out a few fines at Glenvista.  

 A big thank you to our starters, Barry Bruton, Sean Ledden, Kyle Smit and Tony Shaw. It was great to see Tony back on his new “Wheels”and also to see Brian Cusins at prize-giving. Just a pity Bish and I couldn’t pull off the race we planned for them but watch this space, Daytona 500 coming soon to a prize-giving near you.

 A big thank you to Bev, Roz and a new face in Wilma “…Mike Hendricks’ better half…” We really, really do appreciate everything you do for us.       

See you all at Glenvista, on the 17^th July.

Cheers,

Darren.

May was the official visit of our National Chairman, Greg Clack. Thankfully, Spero picked Greg up from OR Tambo on the Tuesday afternoon, which proceeded to be a two and a half hour trek back to my place. We had a fantastic dinner with our committee and wives, at my place that evening. Even though the boys were still suffering terribly from the Swazi Nationals, brave faces were put on and the hangovers were quickly a thing of the past. Graham Swallow put on a mesmerising magician show and tried hard to burn holes in the National Chairmans new Jacket. Graham, thank your lucky stars you got that one right!

I would like to thank Greg, on choosing us for his first official monthly visit. Greg it was fantastic having you up in Gauteng and I hope all your visits are as quiet and restful as this one! I really enjoyed the wine and chat around the fire until 2am, no wonder we played so terribly! You are certainly going to have a blast this year. Erno is waiting anxiously for you in the Boland for your next monthly visit, don’t forget your Proheps and Mypaids.

What a fantastic day we had at Kyalami, in what was my first game as Captain, and what an honor it truly is. As usual the course was in excellent condition and the weather played its part. I was joined by Greg Clack, our National Chairman, Steve Van Der Klis, the Captain of Kyalami and Neil Hommann, the Assistant Executive Director of the SAGA. Well, the Nomads boys got taught a lesson or two on the day with Neil making 34 points off a +4. I am not going to mention what Greg and I made, we certainly didn’t come to the party. Kyalami, has some interesting local rules when it comes to playing golf, as I found out after the round with 2 tequilas, 2 snakes(depth charges) and 1 rumbler, (1 tot of Red Hart Rum in a beer that has been heated up in the microwave for a minute), for my four putt. We certainly look forward to coming back to Kyalami next year for the golf, but not the “straf dops”!

We had a Silver Tray for Jamie Gowans for our December game as well as Silver Trays for Doug Watson and Larry Breedenkamp for their 40 points at Nationals in P.E. Congrats boys.

It was my honour to induct one new Nomad Member into our club, Mike Heffill. Welcome Mike and I hope you have many fantastic years with Nomads, remember that what you put in, you get out. So give it horns.

The Second Swaziland Nationals has come and gone and what a fantastic event it was again! My thanks to all the Gauteng Nomads that made the trip up to Swazi. We were certainly well represented with 18 members making the trip down and enjoying the festivities in true Gauteng Nomadic spirit! A big congratulations to the Swazi boys for organising a fantastic tournament and party, you will certainly see us next year.

It is with sad regret that we say goodbye to Past Captain, Honorary member, and Nomad of 51 years, Pat Mcgurk. You will certainly be missed, may you rest in peace Pat.

The entries for the Gary Player Trophy are open. Please could we get entries in A.S.A.P. Remember spots for the 50^th Nationals will be tight so you will need all the entry points you can get if you wish to get selected for this prestigious Nationals event at Champagne Sports Resort, next year March.

See you all at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington.

Cheers,

Darren