Kelvin Hirini has been officially installed as Nomads Australia President.
The Brisbane club member becomes the first New Zealander to lead the Australian chapter of Nomads, taking over from Nell Schoeman.
Born in Foxton in the Manawatu-Whanganui region on the lower west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, Hirini joined Nomads in November 2011.
He played his first game at the Ipswich club and while he didn’t win the golf, he did walk away with the raffle prize.
“I was introduced to Nomads by my good friend Wilton Maggio,’’ he said.
“My first golfing memory is hitting a seven iron off a tee further than my dad. The seven iron is still my favourite club.’’
Surprisingly, Hirini – unlike every other Kiwi male we’ve met – does not claim to be a junior All Black rugby union trialist. Instead as a young lad he played hockey and soccer.
The diminutive right-hander currently plays off a Golf Australia handicap on 10.6, although he has been down as low as five in the past.
Anyone lucky enough to be at Kooralbyn for October’s 12th Nomads Nationals will know how committed Hirini is to Nomads, and how much it means to him to take on this position.
He got emotional when speaking about what this role means to him and how proud he was to have his daughter, who was working at the National Tournament as a photographer, see him inducted as the new chairman.
“It means a lot to take on this role,’’ he said.
“The people before me have led the organisation very well over the past 19 years. I feel honoured to have been asked to take on the roll and look forward to the next two years.
“I want to see continued growth in Nomads clubs. I want to see clubs get behind their chosen charities. I look forward to attending charity events and spreading the word about Nomads and what we stand for.
“I want to make sure we continue to get behind junior golf.
“Seeing kids get an opportunity to play and improve and experience the game we love is awesome.’’
Hirini currently has two Crying Towels – a Brisbane one and one from Nationals.
When asked about his dream fourball he nominated legends Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples and Michael Campbell as his playing partners and said the match would have to be played on the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland.
Before taking on the chairman’s role Hirini had served as Nomads Brisbane Membership Officer, Samson Administrator, Scorer, Junior Vice Captain, Vice Captain, Captain, NATEX Samson co-ordinator and NATEX Senior Vice Chairman.
Off the course, Hirini heads up the Research and Development program at Alspec, Aluminium Systems Specialists.
We wish Kelvin well for his two-year term.