There will be a strong Tauranga presence when the Open Championship tees off at Muirhead in Scotland on July 11.
Tauranga Golf Club resident professional Jay Carter will be on the bag for Mark Brown, who has made Tauranga home since February this year. Brown qualified for the Open by shooting a course record 62 to win a pre-selection tournament in Australia at the Kingston Heath course in Melbourne.
Carter was on his bag that day and the partnership worked so well Brown wanted his mate from their amateur days 15 years ago in Wellington to go to Scotland with him.
Brown played the Open Championship in 2009 and is confident a more relaxed build-up to playing this year will pay dividends.
"I haven't played a tournament for close to two months but the form feels good and has really come on in the last month or so," Brown said.