About
Windvoël’s Story
history of the Windvoëls
In April 1962, Johan Uys, the then Sales Manager of Protea Holdings, invited Dawie Schoeman, Dawid Raal and Wim Skinner of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Pretoria for a game of golf at Wingate.
This enthusiasm grew and in 1962 Selwyn Schewitz, later to become the Wingate Park CC Golf Chairman, offered reduced rates to the lecturers and students of the University of Pretoria and so Wingate became the unofficial Tukkie golf course.
A nucleus of six Tukkie golfers was formed in 1962 under the administration of Prof Wim Skinner which over a number of years grew to a membership of 18. At this stage Wingate offered the Windvoëls the privilege of 4 fixed times every Saturday morning.
Originally the group was known as “Die Skool” but after a name giving competition which was won by Badie Badenhorst the name changed to “Die Windvoëls”.
Due to people over the years leaving the club for other opportunities or personal reasons we are now reduced to three times.
When the Windvoëls started the front and back nines were opposite to today and in the early days the bets were ½/½/1 in golf balls. These were Slazenger or Dunlop and were nicknamed “boot-rollers”. These balls were all individually wrapped in cellophane paper and would roll around in the boot for weeks and were used to pay bets. When the cover got so old boot-rollers weren’t accepted to pay bets and one had to then use them yourself.
The Windvoëls have always remained loyal to Wingate and during the period of temporary greens in 1985 and 1986, when many members, including a few Windvoëls, left to join other clubs, the Windvoëls continued as usual and were often the only guys in the pub after the morning’s golf. (A letter from the Chairman thanking the Windvoëls is on file).
From 1962 to date there have been a total of 79 players who have had the honour to wear a Windvoëls shirt. There are 14 present members and 65 “Oud Windvoëls” of which 28 have passed on and 10 of unknown whereabouts.
Having four times one of the main internal competitions of the Windvoëls is a team alliance in which the losing team had to buy the winning team a drink. For this it was decided that each team had to have a responsible captain.
The four oldest or longest serving members then received a title of Senior Captain even though the average age of the Senior Captains was then in the 30’s.
The four Senior Captains nominated were Wim Skinner, Bill Kruger, Harm Kruyshaar and Mike Silberman. After that the rules became dictatorial and democracy among the members flew out of the window.
Although many of the Windvoëls had aspirations to become a Senior Captain the veto of the Senior Captains has always remained thumbs down.
Regrettably our founder Wim Skinner pasted away in 2016 after leading us for 54 years, as well as Bill Kruger (2006) and then Harm Kruyshaar (2017).
Ethics and Golf course etiquette has played an important part of the Windvoëls so Wim formulated a constitution, some serious and partly tongue in cheek and then in about 1980 Mike started a fines system collecting fines for indiscretions on (or sometimes off) the golf course.
These fines imposed by the sometimes unpopular “Vark Meester” go to a piggy bank named the “Varkie”.
This part of our weekly prize giving still creates a lot of fun and camaraderie among our members and all the money collected is donated as a Christmas present to the various staff members in the bar, halfway house and kitchen who have served us so well every week.
In the past when Wingate still had a snooker table many hours were spent after the prize giving in the snooker room and later on darts became the excuse for a few more well deserved drinks.
The Windvoëls have an annual Championship in October/November every year as well as in house competitions such as the “Grand Prix”, “Eclectic” and “Kort Gat Koning” which go over 6 months from May to the date of the Championships.
In the past we have had single and pairs knockouts and trophies are won for all the above competitions.
For many years we had interclub competitions, originally for 5 years against Randpark and then later against the “Swartkop Duffers”, the “Monument Molle” as well as internally against the “Rough Riders” and the “Morning Glories”.
Surprisingly the first Wingate team we played against in the late 1980’s were the Wingate ladies and in 1995 Wim gave them a more elegant name, the “Wingate Meringues”.
(Very appropriate as the Afrikaans for a meringue is a “windkoekie”)
The Windvoëls also had a number of weekend away games at places like Vaal de Grace/Parys, Mooi Nooi, Rustenburg, Brits (named “Die Britse Ope”) Naboomspruit, Koro Creek and Cullinan.
For a number of years in the 1980/1990’s Wim Skinner Captained the “Oud Tukkie Gholfklub” team in the Universities Davis Cup together with Windvoëls Omri van Zyl and Mike Silberman which won the Davis Cup in 1988 at Kyalami.
Mike Silberman captained the Tukkie International Davis Cup team that all the Universities played in Swaziland and at Sun City and in 1990 we were privileged to have two teams. Our one team of 10 players consisted of all old Tukkie Windvoëls which that year triumphed asVarsity Champions. Quite an achievement and proud moment for the Windvoëls.
In 2000 the club asked the Windvoëls to investigate upgrading the 9th hole and Marcel Viljoen carried out a land survey. The design was carried out by Mike Silberman and in 2002 the new water features incorporating the 9th and 18th were carried out by Sandpiper Pools, together with raising the 16th green and the reticulation dam and pump house on the 4th. The electrical engineer for all the various pumping schemes was Raymond Marx.
At the completion of this project the Windvoëls donated a fountain for the dam on the 18th hole and on the newly built wall a plaque was placed which can be seen as one approaches the green.
Our first reunion was held in 1987 to celebrate 25 years in which coincidently 25 Windvoëls took part. In 2002 the Windvoëls celebrated their 40th reunion which was attended by 32 current and past members. For this occasion Markie sponsored “Fees Hemde”.
In 2006, thanks to Rein Lombard, Old Mutual sponsored new shirts.
Over the weekend of 11 and 12 May 2012 the Windvoëls celebrated their 50th reunion when Sammy (Jongingozi) sponsored the “50 year” shirts and again in 2022 the “60 year” shirts with the new logo designed by Gerhard.
On the occasion of our 50th the club sponsored a 50th plaque which was installed in the pub together with a copy of the constitution in the “Windvoëls Hoekie”.
When the club celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2017, Mike Silberman was honoured in being the guest speaker at the dinner and also had the honour of being awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of 50 years at the club. (He is now, in 2022, at 55 years, the longest playing member at Wingate ever.)