KEY POINTS:
Family, friends and sporting colleagues farewelled promising young golfer Aaron Mahoney at an emotional funeral service in Christchurch today.
Mahoney, 24, was killed in mysterious circumstances in Dubai on January 10 while pursuing his dream of a professional international golfing career.
A Dubai newspaper reported that Mahoney died when the police car he was in crashed and overturned after he had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
The Khaleej Times reported that the police car went out of control, hit another car and overturned when Mahoney tried to strangle the driver, killing the young golfer and leaving a policeman with serious injuries.
It later reported two policemen had been charged with mansaughter in connection with Mahoney's death, but that report was discredited when New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff confirmed no charges had been laid.
A member of the Russley Golf Club in Christchurch, Mahoney was in the United Arab Emirates attending the second day of a 10-day course at a golfing academy as a lead-up to his plans for turning professional.
He won several golf championships, including three regional titles in New Zealand, and had spent most of the past two years in Melbourne.
At a requiem mass in Christchurch today, the young man with an infectious smile was remembered as a loving family member, a fiercely loyal friend and a talented golfer who was determined to succeed.
Mahoney's younger brother, Oliver, spoke of a life cut short at a time when everything seemed to be going well for him.
"In the tournament of life, he wanted to win," he said, his voice breaking with emotion.
The hardest thing for the family, Oliver Mahoney said, would be not seeing his brother's dreams come true.
Cousin Matthew Mahoney told a packed congregation at Christ the King Catholic Church that he and Aaron had been regarded as the "rebels" in the family -- "never really ones to follow the rules".
Mahoney, he said, was "completely unintimidated" in the company of golfing superstars, who he viewed as his peers, and was a "real gentleman" with impeccable manners.
"Golf made him feel good about himself. He fought a lot of battles to get where he was," Matthew Mahoney said.
Mahoney, he told mourners, would never have given up his dreams of a stellar golfing career.
"He was going to get there and we all knew it," he said. "He's really only played the first nine."
Matthew Mahoney said his cousin loved his family and always put them first.
If there was a positive message to learn from his tragic death it was to "be courageous and don't settle for second best," he said. "Aaron never did."
Melbourne friend and golfing colleague Denis McDade recalled meeting Mahoney for the first time. When he asked Mahoney his ambition, "he looked me straight in the eye and said it was to win the US Open".
McDade said Mahoney always knew the friendly rivalry between Australians and New Zealanders was "just that... friendly".
Mahoney would be remembered as a "good golfer and a good bloke," he said.
At the end of the requiem mass, Mahoney's six uncles carried his coffin, adorned with his photograph and the black blazer he wore as a member of the New Zealand junior team to Korea in 2001, from the church to a waiting silver hearse.
Members of Mahoney's Russley Golf Club formed a guard of honour with golf clubs raised in salute.
He was taken for a committal service at Harewood Crematorium.
- NZPA
