It is possible that you might never have come across Nomads – or that you may have heard the name but know very little about the organisation that plays such a vital role in the South African golfing landscape and, in fact, society.

Without Nomads, South African golf would look vastly different to how we know it today and the many charity organisations would not have benefited from their projects through the years.

The support Nomads gives to boys’ and girls’ junior golf, including the sponsorship of 12 GolfRSA events, has contributed to the development of many champion adult golfers over the years. In fact, Nomads contributes upwards of R2-million a year to the Furtherance of Golf, through the financial support of junior, ladies, development and disabled golf.

The Nomads Golf Club of South Africa have also run the official live scoring system of the Sunshine Tour since the early 1960s, providing a reliable and efficient service to professional golfers throughout the year. Named Golforama, their roving Nomads volunteers make use of handheld electronic devices to send scores through to their ‘linkman’ in the Golforama caravan, keeping viewers up to date with player scores.

Other duties include managing scoreboards at tournaments and TV spotting. TV spotting is where they walk with players during live TV coverage and, per radio, give the broadcasting crew the order of play for every shot to make sure the cameras zoom in on the correct players as they prepare to play their shots. They also give first-hand reasons when there are rulings or requests for drops so the commentators are in a position to relay that information to the viewers while it is happening.

The Nomads members do the volunteering at tournaments in their own time and do not get compensated. In return for their work and services, the Tour contributes a significant amount towards the Nomads’ Furtherance of Golf projects. These funds are donated to golfing bodies around the country, with the bulk of the funds spent on the development of golf from grassroots level.

Outside golf, the organisation has also been a major contributor to charitable causes within our local communities, and has raised close to R50-million over the years for worthy beneficiaries.

Monies raised are donated to a pre-selected beneficiary that operates within each club’s geographical area, in the form of a tangible asset, food parcels, clothes, toiletries or service. It is important to note that no cash is ever handed over.

The defined aims of the Nomads Golf Club neatly summarise what they are all about:

• To provide an opportunity for persons of all walks of life to meet one another at least once a month, to play a game of golf and to make new and cement old friendships.
• To encourage, promote, foster and support the game of golf.
• To generate funds for distribution to charitable causes and assist those persons, regardless of race, color or creed, in a less fortunate position than ourselves.

So how and why do they do it? For starters, there are 12 provincial Nomads clubs in South Africa. Since the Nomads Golf Club has no home course, golfers meet once a month to play a game of golf together in their area. There are also Nomads clubs in Australia, New Zealand, England, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Botswana and Zambia.

Once a year, in March, one of the 12 clubs hosts the annual national tournament which is the biggest amateur golf tournament in the world played on one golf course. More than 350 Nomads from around the world play four games over six days at a golf course.

The Nomads Golf Club of South Africa has several big-name national sponsors, which include Castle Lite, Stella Artois, TaylorMade and Glenbrynth whisky.

The Nomads members are from all walks of society and include many household names. Gary Player is a founder and honorary member and all Nomads clubs play an annual competition called the Gary Player Knockout. The winners at each club receive a signed certificate from the great man. Other honorary members include Johann Rupert, Dale Hayes, Denis Hutchinson, Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen.

If you are interested in making a difference to the lives of others, visit the Facebook page of The Nomads Golf Club of South Africa, their website www.nomads.co.za or contact their National PRO Alten Hulme at altenmhulme@gmail.com or 082 491 2652.