Who would have thought when we left Kuils River GC after prize giving on 27 February that we would not play another Nomads game for 20 weeks? And even then, our return was a quiet one, with no registration table and prize giving at home.
The conditions at Atlantic Beach were perfect for golf. The course has recovered remarkably well and the greens were the best I have ever seen them. That said, the scoring was not great and the average score for the day was a mere 28.2.
A huge thank you to the General Manager Tony Louw and his staff who welcomed us back and made sure we were able to follow all the COVID-19 protocols seamlessly. There is a reason we look forward to our game at Atlantic Beach every year. I have no doubt we will be supporting the bar properly in 2021.
All things considered we had a strong field of 88 players. Boland Nomad, John vd Spuy was in the field and we also had 4 visitors, including Atlantic Beach Links Captain, Nigel Pillay. Congratulations to the Division winners, Ray Dodgen (38 pts off 8), George Scrimgour (34 pts off 14) and Mark Beeton (37 pts off 19). Adrian Estcourt made 18 points of a 7 to win the matchbox by 3.
The winning 4-ball of myself, Ed Jearey, Richard Nell and Hugo Vermeulen combined for 126 points to win by 3 #justsaying.
The lack of prize giving since February has meant that there are a lot of members who achieved milestones that we could not recognise and celebrate. We will do so properly once we return to normal. The biggest event was at Nationals when Ken Walker was bestowed Honorary Life Member status. Mark Philp of Boland was also made an HLM. They are the only the 14th and 15th Nomads in the history of the organisation to be awarded this honour.
Congratulations to the following WP Nomads on achieving tie awards; 5 years to Carl Potgieter, Dean Marsberg, Kieron Kent, Malcolm Bushell and Mark Harcombe; 10 years to Mathew Bieske; 15 years to Gary Cahi and Hendrik Weber; 25 years to Derek Melly and Bob Browning; 30 years to Daryl De Beer and 35 years to Richard Plumb.
We also have Nomads who are not as active but have retained their membership. Between them they have 190 years of Nomadic experience. Thank you, Malcolm Park (40 years), Hugh Fichardt (45 years), Herby Benatar (50 years) and Mike Kovensky (55 years).
Sadly, the Creed had to be read yet again at prize giving. We said farewell to Ken ‘Prof’ MacGregor who passed away during the lockdown.
A huge thank you to the 39 WP Nomads who made the trip to the Buffalo Nationals at East London. We might not have brought Bert back, but we won the Spirit Trophy.
Thank you, as always, to our local sponsors. Thank you also to our national sponsors. Our next monthly game is at Westlake on 20 August 2020 where we will be in the very capable hands of our new Cappie, Gary Cahi.
Yours in Nomads
Carl Potgieter