Coast King William flying three banners

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

THE flags of nine golf courses will be flying in the top 16 of the 2023 edition of the King of the Coast which tees off at the Tolaga Bay course tomorrow morning.

Defending champion William Brown will be hoisting three of those — his true home course of Waikohu, Poverty Bay, where he is the head greenkeeper, and Te Puia Hot Springs, who he played interclub pennants for this year.

Electrinet Park has a five-pronged challenge in the elite group of the popular two-day matchplay tournament featuring  64 players in four divisions.

Barring any late withdrawls, first 16 contenders Dan Collier, Zane Boyle, 2001 KotC champion Tony Akroyd, Matt Henwood and Jason Devery will be getting more course time on Tolaga Bay than they have on their rain-hammered Park track in recent weeks.

Park No.1 Anaru Reedy, the 2021 KotC champ and 2022 runner-up, is not competing this weekend.

Patutahi has four contenders — 2019 winner Hukanui Brown, Dwayne Russell, Jace Brown and Regan Hindmarsh.

Te Puia member John Wyllie is in the field but there is little indication of his form as he has played just one official round this year — at Poverty Bay — and his previous 18-hole score was in January 2020.

Fellow “Te Puian” Andrew Higham — a three-time KotC winner — is a notable absence but will be in the thoughts of many over the weekend as he continues his recovery from a serious car accident.

Tolaga Bay hopes are pinned on a lone soldier, Neil Hansen, while Waikohu’s Terry Reeves has sneaked into the top 16 as 15th seed (on handicap) and faces a baptism of fire  tomorrow morning.

Three “invaders” are looking to ascend the throne — Opotiki’s Micky Huriwaka, Kawerau’s Tuakana August and Springfield’s (Rotorua) Craig Tiriana.

That the likes of August and several others are KotC regulars is testament to the popularity of the open and its classic East Coast hospitality.

For some, the golf is what they do in between socialising.