NEW ZEALAND         

"........ at a meeting last night it was resolved that the Club would be called NOMADS providing we can legally register as such." and so it was that the preliminary phase of activities leading to the formation of a Nomads Club in New Zealand ended and the Inauguration phase commenced.

The above words were written in the margins of a faxed copy of an article entitled
OF NO FIXED ABODE which appeared under the by-line of Michael Webb, in the June-July 1997 edition of the Golf Update Magazine, a golfing magazine published in New Zealand.

The words themselves are not particularly momentous to Members of any of the South African Nomads Golf Clubs as we are fully familiar with other Nomads fraternities which cater for bowlers, cyclists, anglers, swimmers etc. However, In New Zealand there already was a Nomads Golf Club which had been in existence since 1932. The following is an extract from the same edition of the abovementioned magazine, written by Jim Wallace:-

"Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand's premier Championship course, has a high profile owing to its popularity as a venue for major Tournaments. Since being formally established and opened for play in 1949, the links layout, about an hours drive north of Wellington, has hosted the New Zealand Open Championship on ten occasions and was home to the prestigious Caltex Tournament for 20 years from the early 1950s. That event played an important part in the development of professional golf in this country.
But the links have an even longer association with a unique group of New Zealand golfers, the Nomads Golf Society.
In 1932, a prominent farmer Mr. Henry Arkwright, decided to gather some of his sporting friends together to play an annual game of golf, with the objective of combining good sports competition with an opportunity to mix socially.
By 1937 the Nomads had become firmly established and apart from the WW2 years and a missed outing in 1957, they have met annually ever since and from 1949, always at Paraparaumu.
........An interesting aside to this story concerns a building which sits atop a hill a few metres from the beachfront at Paraparaumu which has been an integral part of Nomads Tournaments at Paraparaumu. Stories abound of the wonderful after match parties in this historic and homely Hotel."

The relevant parts, repeated here almost verbatim, taken  from the article OF NO FIXED ABODE outline the broad parameters of the tasks facing those dedicated to the formation of the New Zealand Nomads Golf Club.

"Last year an article in Golf Update, entitled "Birds of a Feather", chronicled the birth and development of the Eagles Golfing Society.
A similar organisation has been operating in South Africa, under the name of Nomads, for 38 years, although it has taken longer for the concept to become truly national, with Free State still to be colonised  [rectified late in 1997 - ED].
The objects of the Eagles, in the initial order of importance, were (a) support of golf and junior golf in particular and (b) fellowship. The support of the Murray Halberg Trust charity became an Eagles project some years later.
Nomads objectives rank slightly differently as fellowship first, with support of charities and golf assuming roughly equal importance. The emphasis on the first element is summed up in their theme statement, taken from the poet, John Donne, which begins, "No man is an island...." and concludes
 ".....Ask not for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee." 
The Nomads name was chosen for the obvious reason that the group does not play at any one club.

A number of South African expatriates who have been Members of Nomads, missed the involvement and canvassed the idea of setting up a sister organisation in New Zealand and a steering committee has been set up to launch a Greater Auckland Club later this year. The Nomads name will not be used as there is already a Nomads Golfing Society in existence in N. Z. and there is a feeling that the name and its equivalent, Wanderers, have been overused. The committee is looking for an appropriate name with a particularly New Zealand flavour.
There appears to be a conflict of interest with the Eagles, but the Eagles membership criteria, albeit unwritten, excludes many who would be in harmony with their aims and have the time and wherewithal and the desire to contribute to their objectives. It is one of the paradoxes of Eagles membership that one has to have worked 15 or so years for golf before being invited to contribute another 15. Of course, the simple logistics of the number of people who can be accommodated comfortably on a course at one time puts an upper limit on membership and there has to be some arbitrary selection criteria.
The "Of No Fixed Abode Club" would also have a limit on membership and be by invitation but golf representation or administration would not be part of the criteria for acceptance. Eventually they would like to see the Club following the South African model and spread amoeba-like throughout the country.

The steering committee recognises the great work done for golf by the Eagles, largely behind the scenes and would work to ensure that there is no conflict in the areas of the game targeted for support. In fact they hope that Eagles officers and Golf Association officers would become Honorary Members of the Club.

The rules of the Club may be a turn-off to some and attractive to others, particularly those who feel the game is going to hell in a hand basket, as far as dress and conduct is concerned. Member must purchase a club jacket, which must be worn with slacks and collared shirt (tie optional) at after game prizegivings and the club shirt (with other acceptable dress of the host club) must be worn on the course. Attendance at the prize-giving is compulsory and members must compete on at least 6 of the 12 monthly golf days. The club also has its own handicapping system for its own events.
It is fair to say that the Club would be in many ways a networking organisation and although Nomads in S. A. are a men-only club the O. N. F. A. will be open to both men and women.

A single charity is chosen annually and fundraising is the responsibility of a special sub-committee while the designated golf support area benefits from the profits, usually in the form of fines, from the monthly golf days (members of Lions, Rotary and ADGA delegates on annual bus trips will get the picture).

The steering committee will be approaching prospective founding members over the next two months with a view to a trial run in August and, hopefully, a launch in September, when the inaugural officers will be elected. Who knows, you may be on their list!"

We now know that the proposed New Zealand Nomads Golf Club formally came into being, having managed to overcome the handicap of an already established Nomads Golf Society and since 1998 has been running golf meetings in its own rights.