It was a good day for the Brown whānau at the Full Send Long Drive & Putting Comp. Watene Brown (pictured) won the junior boys' title, father Eddie made the open men's playoffs and uncle Hukanui won the open men's final. Photo / Shaun Tunnicliffe
It was a good day for the Brown whānau at the Full Send Long Drive & Putting Comp. Watene Brown (pictured) won the junior boys' title, father Eddie made the open men's playoffs and uncle Hukanui won the open men's final. Photo / Shaun Tunnicliffe
A universal language was translated on a fairway in Gisborne last Friday.
The translation was the Full Send Long Driving & Putting Comp held at Poverty Bay Golf Club’s Awapuni Links.
The brainchild of self-professed “goldsmith” Reece Witters, Full Send was a months-long project of passion that culminated in guns, choppers, rising stars and seasoned swingers converging on the links to decide the King Kongs of hitting it long and the King and Queen of the green.
Promoted as a fun, family event, it got the full approval of the weather gods, who put aside their recent dreary disposition to smile down on Gisborne with the ultimate summer day, enhanced by a course in condition and appearance aptly summed up by a four-letter word ... ”mint”.
Locals and a couple of brothers from Hawke’s Bay got right behind it. Entrants ranged in age from a 9-year-old to 77-year-old “local legend” Tene Goldsmith, known to many as Goldie or, as his putting rivals would later find out, The Man With The Golden Gun.
The long-driving contest – held from the women’s tee on the No 1 hole and split into six age group categories – attracted some of the district’s well-known “rocket launchers”.
Dan Collier smashed the biggest drive of the day – 318.5m in qualifying – but had to settle for runner-up to Hukanui Brown in the open men's final of the Full Send Long Drive & Putting Comp on the Awapuni Links course in Gisborne. Photo / Shaun Tunnicliffe
And not surprisingly, two of them met in the open men’s final – fellow Tairāwhiti representatives Hukanui Brown and Dan Collier.
The pair were the last two standing after nine men qualified for the playoffs. Collier bazookaed a Volle golf ball out to what proved to be longest drive of the day to top qualify – a 318.5m bomb, measured by Trackman technology, which drew the comment that organisers might want to warn nearby Gisborne Airport.
Josh Adams (307.5m), known more for his footballing skills, qualified second and Eddie Brown jnr (301.4m) – Hukanui’s older brother – was third.
Hukanui was seventh with 292.2m.
With the air getting heavier during the playoffs, only Hukanui Brown managed to crack the 300m mark – 301.8m in his semifinal win over Dwayne Russell.
Collier, whose consistency was a standout, defeated Beau Toa 293.5m to 282.5m in his semi.
Distance dropped for the final. Collier’s best was 287.7m, which Hukanui Brown made short work of with a 295.5m blow.
Whiti Timutimu smokes a drive in qualifying at the Full Send Long Drive & Putting Comp, held at the Awapuni Links course in Gisborne last Friday. Timutimu won the open women's division.
The open women’s final saw top qualifier Whiti Timutimu (212.5m) brush the cobwebs off her clubs and win with a 209.3 smite to Megan Allen’s 199.5m.
Armed with a new driver, No 1 seed John Collier jnr (266.7m) belted it out 265.7m in the final of the 50+ men’s division to beat seven-time Poverty Bay Open champion Waka Donnelly (261.9m).
Two-time senior women’s club champion Rochelle Taewa (171.8m) defeated Poverty Bay clubmate Maxine Francois (153.2m) in the over-50 women’s final.
Watene Brown showed he is fast following in father Eddie and uncle Hukanui’s big-hitting footsteps in comfortably winning the junior boys’ final with a 238.4m effort to Tristin Williams’ 208.8m.
Gisborne Girls' High School student Vegas Lawler sends one out in front of timekeeper James McGregor. Lawler won the junior girls' final. Photo / Shaun Tunnicliffe
Vegas Lawler won a battle of Gisborne Girls’ High students in the junior girls’ final - 168.9m to Josie Keast’s 139.1m.
When asked about going for broke in front of a gallery, many of the competitors described it in one word ... ”nerve-racking”.
Over the day, the putting competition qualifier was held over 18 holes on three greens.
A magic moment from the Full Send putting competition as Carnie Nelson slots a 13m putt, much to the delight of opponent Lynne Holmberg in the women's putting final. Nelson won in a sudden-death playoff. Photo / Shaun Tunnicliffe
Lynne Holmberg (30 putts) topped the women’s qualifying with Carnie Nelson (33) second. The final, held over six holes on the practice green in front of the clubhouse, was a thriller – Nelson winning a sudden-death playoff after they finished the regulation holes tied.
Four men made the men’s final – Jace Brown (30), Josh Willoughby, Goldsmith and Tairāwhiti Golf Association president Anaru Reedy (all on 33).
Goldsmith and Willoughby went into the last hole tied, with Reedy and Brown a shot behind. Having received the comment that “class is forever” earlier in the day, Goldsmith backed that up by slotting his putt for one and Willoughby – with the chance to force a playoff – left his attempt short.
Witters and his organising team were delighted with the response and how the day went.
“This was Full Send in its truest spirit – a region coming together to share a day we’ll never forget,” he said. “Huge thanks to everyone who turned up, volunteered and poured their heart into the day. Tairāwhiti, this was one for the books.”
He was also extremely grateful to the various sponsors, the Poverty Bay Golf Club and photographer Shaun Tunnicliffe.
More photos and video footage of Full Send can be seen on the Awapuni Links: Home of the Poverty Bay Golf Club Facebook page.
Full Send open men’s playoffs
Quarterfinals: Hukanui Brown 290.1m def Josh Adams 283.3m; Dwayne Russell 281.6m def Eddie Brown jnr 276.2m; Dan Collier 299.5m def B.J. Sydney 286m and Matt Henwood 280.4m; Beau Toa 291.6m def Chris Fox 288.1m.
Semifinals: Hukanui Brown 301.8m def Russell 271.6m; Collier 293.7m def Toa 282.5m.
