THE Nomads, all 1500 of them throughout the country, have been described as “unsung heroes of South African golf” and Randpark’s very own long-time member Graham Bishop was on March 17 named as this august body’s National Chairman until March next year – a great honour for both himself and our club.
“I joined Nomads in 2010 because I love golf and here was just a nice chance, I initially thought, to play 12 games with my mates at 12 different courses annually,” says the 53-year-old former attorney who left the law profession in 2001 to start his own financial services business.
“But I soon found out that being a Nomad was a lot more than playing 12 games a year and enjoying the camaraderie,” adds Graham who over the years rose through the ranks to become the Gauteng Nomads Captain in 2015 before filling the role as the all-important Co-Ordinator of the 2019 Nomads Firethorn nationals held right here at Randpark.
And, in summary, here’s why Nomads golf is so much more than just these 12 games a year – why the Nomads are these “unsung heroes”. In a nutshell, we owe them a debt of gratitude.
Founded back in 1960, the Nomads have played a prominent role in growing golf in South Africa for over 60 years. The support Nomads gives to junior golf for both boys and girls including the sponsorship of 12 GolfRSA junior events annually, has contributed to the development of many fine golfers over the years (JJ Senekal, winner of the recent SDC Open at Zebula being just one example). In fact, Nomads contributes upwards of R1-million a year to what is called the “Furtherance of Golf”, through the financial support of junior, ladies, development golf and disabled golf.
Also, extremely importantly, Nomads has run the official live scoring system of the Sunshine Tour since the early 1960s. Named “Golforama”, today the roving Nomads volunteers make use of handheld electronic devices to send scores through to their ‘linkman’ in the Golforama caravan, keeping you, the television viewer, up to date with player scores not only with regard to our own Tour, but the DP World Tour events held in this country as well, which of course includes the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
In return for Nomads’ input, the two Tours pay them for their efforts and these funds are then donated to GolfRSA who use the money for the development of the game from grassroots level.
Then there’s the charity arm of Nomads. The Andrew Mentis Endowment Fund channels the funds generated by each of the 12 “clubs” in South Africa (equating to 12 different provincial regions) to a variety of charitable causes, assisting needy people regardless of race, colour or creed. “We don’t give money as such,” says Graham, “it’s rather a case of, for instance, upgrading a building or providing vehicles for transport. These charities have benefited to the tune of over R40-million over the years. The year it was my turn to nominate a charity I chose the St Lawrence’s Haven for Children.”
The money raised is a result of raffles, sponsorships and other initiatives but mostly the Nomads themselves – all 1500 of them in South Africa and 37 of them here at Randpark – unselfishly giving of their own valuable time and money. A fun side is the fines dished out at each game for any trumped up “misdemeanour” – like a four putt or whatever. The Nomads then dig deep into their own pockets to pay the fines and increase the monthly money pot. Being a Nomad requires a deep commitment to golf, to the community at large and to one’s fellow man or woman less fortunate than one’s self.
Graham took over as chairman in March at Bloemfontein Golf Club where this year’s nationals were held with 360 players taking part, making it for what is believed to be the biggest amateur tournament in the Southern hemisphere. He will serve in the top post until the 2024 nationals at Koro Creek in Limpopo. Between now and then he will be busy travelling to all 12 provincial Nomads regions in South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana as Nomads also operates outside our borders (including, by the way, in Australia, New Zealand and the UK).
He will also attend a whole host of junior, ladies’, disabled and development tournaments and functions to hand over the prizes to the winners and perform other chairman duties. His first assignment was the Nomads SA Girls Rose Bowl at Lost City where Kyra van Kan took top honours with a 54-hole aggregate of 211, including a sizzling final round 67. He then moved to Pecanwood for the Nomads SA Boys Under-19 Championship where he handed the trophy to Daniel Bennett who, incredibly, blitzed the course with rounds of 62, 61, 68 and 63 for a 34-under-par 254 aggregate to win by 21 shots. It is by all accounts the lowest 72-hole ever recorded, amateur or professional, in South Africa.“The quality of golf in those two junior events was, to put it mildly, absolutely amazing and, yes, it is heart-warming to know that we at Nomads have made special events like this possible,” says Graham.
Graham Bishop is the second national Nomads chairman to come out of Randpark as Doug Watson, now in his 80s, was the first and today he is a Nomads honorary member. “Another Nomads recently made an honorary member,” points out Graham, “is former Gauteng Captain Brian Burns. Brian has played over 520 fund-raising Nomads games over the years and at 12 games a year – work it out – that is some commitment!”
Commitment to others. That at heart is what Nomads is all about.
Nomads are thankful to SAB, Glenbrynth, TaylorMade and Motus for their sponsorships.
Written by Grant Winter a Randpark member
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