While the tour prevented Gough from attending, his parents Dean and Penny, as they have done regularly on his behalf at the annual event, did the receiving.
Considering multiple world champion Gough, 19, had won the premier award at the Hawke's Bay Sports Awards function in May it would have been a surprise if he didn't capture the major award last night after he had earlier been awarded the junior male gong. While still a junior, Gough, was a member of the Kiwis' gold medal-winning 4000m team pursuit team at February's elite world championships in Paris.
The most successful junior track cyclist in the history of New Zealand cycling, Gough, collected gold and silver medals at this year's elite track nationals.
His closest rival for the supreme award was Maori All Black rugby prop Brendon Edmonds.
In addition to playing a prominent role in the Maori All Blacks win against Fiji, Edmonds, was a frontrow kingpin for the Highlanders team which won the Super Rugby title in June and the Hawke's Bay Magpies team which defended the Ranfurly Shield on seven occasions before losing it to Waikato and won the ITM Cup Championship.
Equestrian stalwart Tiny White became the latest, and at 91, the oldest inductee into the Central Hawke's Bay Sports Hall of Fame. A former Hawke's Bay and New Zealand representative in numerous national and international events, White, formed the Otane Pony Club in 1953 and held several positions with the club including head coach and examiner.
She is a former district commissioner and Hawke's Bay representative on the New Zealand Equestrian Board. White was an international dressage judge and has been a selector for both the New Zealand and Australian Olympic Games teams.
In 1994 she was awarded an OBE for her services and in 2010 was inducted into the Horse of the Year Hall of Fame.
White joins cue sport dynamo Lloyd Lawrence, softball legend Rhonda Hira and former All Black Norm Hewitt as the CHB Sports Hall of Fame inductees. She told the 400-strong crowd how tired she was after watching all of the All Blacks World Cup games.
"I know the players are exhausted ... well we're shattered as well," White quipped.
She encouraged youngsters to get involved in sport.
"It doesn't matter what sport it is. Get into it and carry on with it whether you are good at it or not."
It was a memorable night for the Otane Sports Club.
In addition to winning the Club award the club's premier netball team, which was undefeated in gaining its 10th win from 12 Super 6 Hawke's Bay finals, shared the Senior Team award with the Hawke's Bay championship-winning Onga-Tiko Colts rugby team, the netball side's coach, Annemarie Kupa-Petera, won the coach award and rugby stalwart Kelly Graham, who played his 400th consecutive senior game this year, was one of five service award recipients.
Rugby commentator and former All Black lock Ian Jones was last night's guest speaker.
He said he had heard pundits labelling the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks as the best team ever.
"My view on that is that the All Blacks are just who they are."
Jones ranked former Wallabies captain John Eales as one of the toughest he marked during his 105 games as an All Black. He gave some entertaining accounts of his trips. "I remember interviewing the late Jerry Collins and asking him about the difference between night and day tests. Jerry thought about it for a while and replied it was darker during the night tests."
