Tribute to Tannah Harris
Boggoms Bay Golf Club found the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to its legendary golf personality, the late Tannah Harris, at its year end function on Friday night, 17 November.
The tribute was read by the secretary of the golf club, Andries van Schalkwyk, and the sketch of Tannah by local artist, Noeline Kemp, was unveiled by his wife, Bert Harris.
It is not the habit of a sports club like the Boggomsbaai Golf Club to honour a member that has passed away, but when Tannah Harris passed, all of us at the club realised one of the pillars this club was built on, had fallen away. His legacy in this club is so big that his death brought us all to a standstill, causing us to rethink our roles and functions at the club and as golf players, playing this game he loved so much.
How many people knew who Tannah was? Wow! Wherever you moved around in the golfing fraternity, people knew this man: players, caddies, juniors in the Garden Route area, officials at clubs, players on the Sunshine Circuit, swallows on their visit to SA, they all knew him. And he knew and remembered the majority of them as well.
Deep discussion
Of course he was popular. Tall and lanky, he was often seen in deep discussion and it was his interest in the wellbeing of others especially, that made him so well liked.
Tannah was a natural leader, a willing one who was always available when others were often not.
I don't have the exact date when Tannah joined the Boggomsbaai Golf Club, but he soon became the club captain in 2000 and after four years in that capacity, he became the president of the club, a position that he held until 2021.
It was during this time that he became a member of the Southern Cape Golf Union and soon after that was elected as the president of SCGU, a post that he served with great dignity. He was the honourable president of both Boggomsbaai Golf Club and SCGU at the time of his death.
Tannah was also a qualified rules official of the South African Golf Union, a job and position that he clearly loved and could speak about with great authority. He attended many tournaments around SA in this capacity and we at the Boggomsbaai Club enjoyed the inside stories from his travels that he shared.
Knowledge
His knowledge of the golf rules made him a bit of a pest sometimes, but he was also the "easy way out" for us to understand the rules, because he was always at hand.
There is one word to describe his importance to the Boggomsbaai Golf Club
and that is "immense".
Lots of people make fun of our club because of our oil greens and very tough rough, but he always backed the Boggomsbaai Golf Club at the highest level.
This was his home club for many years and he always defended his club proudly.
He concerned himself with all the doings of the club and there were many occasions when he actually guided us back on the correct path when we had strayed. After his death, his wife Bert often mentioned that he really loved the players of Boggomsbaai, and to a large extent you could experience this in practice.
Club captain
When I became the club captain he would, on numerous occasions tell me to do things in a different manner. Not so much because he thought himself better, but because he understood the vibe and atmosphere in the club.
On various occasions he mentioned how proud he was of his club, as everywhere he went, people would remark on the excellent atmosphere at our club.
At prize givings he would always sit on the right hand side.
He attended every prize giving, not only to collect a possible prize, but because it was the correct thing to do. Afterwards he would always thank the captain for his work and then the sponsor for the day, before he left for home.
The Boggomsbaai Golf Club has most probably lost its biggest and proudest supporter, but his memory will live forever and the legacy he has left behind will inspire many aspiring golfers to work extra hard for the future and welfare of this wonderful and unique club of ours.
Tannah Harris, our dear friend, will always be remembered for wearing a jacket even when it was hot, and he always wore two sets of glasses to see the golf ball. May his soul rest in peace.
This was his home club for many years and he always defended his club proudly.