The Natal Nomads Golf Club found a temporary home on the North Coast last week, playing their monthly meet-up at Umhlali Country Club.

Drizzly weather had no effect on the atmosphere, with Nomads members welcoming the opportunity to play golf locally on Thursday.

The 120-strong club play 12 different courses a year, using it as a chance to see the best of what the province has to offer and to make lasting contacts.

Founded in 1963, the Natal version of the club was the second founded after the initial chapter in Gauteng (then Transvaal) three years prior.

Over 50 years on, the club retains healthy membership and has grown into an international organisation with member clubs as far afield as the UK and Australia.

“The idea when it was started and the ethos today is the same. Nomads exist for the furtherance of golf,” said Natal Nomads PRO, Greg Graham.

“The club actively tries to create opportunites for golfers from disadvantaged backgrounds, golfers with disabilities and to try and get female golfers involved in the game.”

A decades long supporter of amateur golf in South Africa, the Nomads have also raised significant funds for charity through their internal Andrew Mentis Foundation.

More than R35-million has been raised nationally and funnelled back into deserving organisations and causes within the area of individual Nomad clubs.

“It’s important to note that we never donate funds directly,” said Graham.

“Each year a project is selected and funds go towards the completion thereof, where every cent can be accounted for.”

Another important facet of the Nomads portfolio is working with the Sunshine Tour, for which the club provides live scoring services called ‘Golforama’.

If you are watching a tour event on TV or following it live online, you are seeing a Nomad volunteer’s work first hand.

Volunteers are drawn from the Nomad club in the area of the tournament, while flagship and co-sanctioned events draw teams of volunteers from across the country.

But for the 80 odd players at UCC on Thursday, going low was their main concern.

Newly elected UCC men’s golf captain, Keith Ferreira, had the honour of playing a round with Natal Nomads captain, Butch Armitage.

“It’s great to be able to host the Nomads and join them for the day, as is tradition,” said Ferreira.

“Anyone involved in golf knows the work they do to grow the game and how important it is for amateur golf across the country. They are welcome back any time.”

The Nomads welcome new members by invitation only, on the condition they have a registered handicap as a member of a club and that they commit to at least six monthly meet-ups per year.

Aside from monthly matches, there is an annual national Nomads tournament and a few other special events.

Visit natalnomads.co.za to find out more.

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