Big day for Hukanui Brown

BUNKER SHOT: Auckland golfer Andy Wright, of the Akarana club, chips out of a bunker next to the fifth-hole green at Poverty Bay Golf Club’s course yesterday. He lost on the 18th hole to home-course player Pete Anderson, who was to play Patutahi’s Hukanui Brown in a semifinal this morning. Picture by Paul Rickard

GOLF

HUKANUI Brown joked about getting revenge while putting on the Poverty Bay practice green yesterday morning.

He then went about exacting it, twice, to book a spot in the Keiha Cup championship 16 semifinals of the Emerre and Hathaway Poverty Bay men’s open golf tournament.

Patutahi member Brown started the day by getting rid of 2012 PB Open winner William Brown and ended it by knocking out defending champion Andy Higham.

The big man is an entertaining watch. He hits the ball huge distances, viciously wayward at times, but he also has that Houdini factor and a high-quality short game.

He had good reason to feel pleased with himself. Poverty Bay greenkeeper William Brown and two-time PB Open winner Higham are impressive scalps.

There was also, no doubt, the satisfaction of getting his own back.

Brown recently lost to William Brown in the final of Patutahi’s senior men’s club championship. And earlier in the year he fell to Higham in the final of the East Coast men’s open at Te Puia Hot Springs.

For yesterday’s efforts, he earned a semifinal date this morning with home-course player Pete Anderson. The other last-four-standing clash pitted another Poverty Bay player, Peter Kerekere, against Kawerau member Ruel Pedersen.

Tokoroa-based Pedersen showed his big-game character in surviving two sudden-death playoffs.

He played a total of 42 holes over the day, sneaking past Poverty Bay’s Anaru Reedy on the 19th in the morning, then going toe to toe over five extra holes to beat former Gisborne player and 1995 PB Open champion David Solomann.

Pedersen, who lost in the 2012 final to good mate William Brown, made birdie on the 19th after Reedy fought his way back from 3-down.

A par on the fifth hole was enough to get him across the line against Manukau-based Solomann, who had a 41-hole day.

Top qualifier Kerekere was solid in eliminating a gritty Thomas Donovan 3 and 2 in their Round 1 matchplay encounter.

He then defeated the impressive-swinging Fijian and Gisborne Park senior club champion Anuresh Chandra 3 and 2.

Anderson had to work hard for both his wins. He struggled a little with his game in the morning but got the job done on the 18th against Aucklander Andy Wright.

He moved into his second PB Open semifinals with a 17th-hole win against clubmate George Brown.

George Brown could be well satisfied with his efforts, having earlier knocked out another Poverty Bay player and fellow 50-years-plusser Collin Jeffrey.

In other Round 1 matches, Chandra beat Peter Clayton (PB) 2 and 1, Solomann beat 2017 Open finalist Stefan Andreassen (PB) 1-up and Higham beat seven-time Open champion Waka Donnelly (Napier) 1-up.