Father Noel Stubbs (left) with sons Kaleb Tawera, 16, Tyson Tawera, 19, and carlos Tawera, 21. PHOTO/Glenn Taylor
Whoever says politics, religion and sports can kill one's appetite on the dinner table obviously hasn't met the Tawera family.
Come Sundays, parents Suzie Tawera-Stubbs and Noel Stubbs and their sons, Carlos, 21, Tyson, 19, and Kaleb, 16, engage in the ritual of some verbal jousting on whose drives, chips and putts returns winning cards.
"Every Sunday, after a round [of golf], we have some light banter on the bragging rights over the dinner table," says the father, emphasising the baby of the family has had a monopoly on the witty repartee lately.
"Kaleb's been giving us a run for our money. He's the biggest hitter off the tee," says the self-employed subcontractor of the Hastings Boys' High School pupil on a five handicap.
"Once he gets the flow going behind him, he puts it out there," Stubbs says of Kaleb who switched from St John's College to HBHS after securing a golf scholarship.
For the record, the three boys go by their mother's surname because it was Stubbs' choice to discontinue the lineage with his father. But surname aside, there is no discord with their amateur golfing prowess.
If they aren't already, then it's just a matter of days before the Tawera boys go on to become the three amigos of Golf Hawke's Bay.
Carlos and Tyson are keeping each other honest as they inch closer to becoming scratchies on the handicap scale.
The trio represented the Hawke's Bay senior men in the annual Shand Cup competition last weekend although the team finished fourth.
This weekend the older pair will not have their youngest brother alongside them when they tee up at Waipukurau Golf Club for the annual Greenwood Cup tournament for their Maraenui Golf Club team.
"Kaleb's a bit upset ... it gets a bit political on the club scene because they like to have more senior citizens in the team.
"Having said that, Maraenui try to get as many youngsters as they can," says Stubbs who coaches the Bay junior rep team.
Kaleb registered a win, loss and halved a game in last weekend's rep match.
The teenager could have done better but, Stubbs says, that'll come with time.
"Kaleb is going to be pretty good if he keeps at it.
So where does Tyson fit into the scheme of things?
"He's a naturally gifted player," Stubbs says of the former St John's College pupil whose handicap hovers around the 1 or 2 mark like that of Carlos.
Tyson works at a Flaxmere kohanga reo (childcare centre) and has moved out of the family home in Napier.
And what can we make of Carlos?
"He shows a lot of promise," says Stubbs.
A seasonal worker at Whakatu, Carlos' promise includes claiming the bragging rights to the Maraenui course record of 63 set about 18 months ago in a Saturday club competition round.
To put that in perspective, South Korea-born PGA Tour professional Danny Lee, of Rotorua, carded 64 there as a 14-year-old amateur in 2005 before going on to smash the Hastings Golf Club course record two years later.
Lindisfarne College teacher and former Bay senior men's representative Stuart Duff emulated Lee's feat at Maraenui.
A six handicapper, Stubbs says he and Suzie, a 20 handicapper, have shared the joys and pains of honing the skills of their children.
"When they [children] were young she ran everything but I tend to take them on away trips to New Zealand Golf tournaments around the country."
Suzie and Kaleb are the only ones not to have sunk a hole in one in the family.
Carlos leads that department with aces at Hawke's Bay Golf Club No 13 and Maraenui No 5.
Remarkably Stubbs and Tyson have both aced the No 11 on the Maraenui course.
In many respects, the boys were destined to repair divots on the man-made Garden of Eden because of the family values as well as the passion to keep the sport from becoming marginalised in the Bay.
"The main reason, I suppose, was to keep the boys off the streets," he says.
The adage of a family who plays together stays together rings true.
Ironically last year, the father and three sons were all in the Maraenui Greenwood Cup team for what has to be some kind of a record that may be hard to eclipse.
Former Bay men's selector, Judith Gimblett, of Hastings, according to Stubbs, had reckoned they were the first in the region to achieve that feat.
"She should know because she's been around a long time."
The significance of the three brothers in Bay senior colours for the Shand Cup last weekend hadn't dawned on the family until Kaleb brought it up around the dinner table at home last Sunday after the campaign at Hawke's Bay Golf Club.
"If the boys carry on with it then Golf Hawke's Bay will be much stronger," the father says.
Skills aside, the brothers bring their own personality traits to the course.
Here's the dad's drift on the boys:
Kaleb: "Cocky. His cockiness just rolls off but that confidence oozes not just with the family but all his opponents."
Tyson: "He's timid. He doesn't show emotions with bad shots."
Carlos "the Jackal": "Oh he does lose the rag a little but he keeps it to himself. Only the family can pick that out on the course."
Kaleb's self-assurance is evident in school and clubs, too.
"Everyone knows him. He just oozes arrogance."
Some Aussie influence somewhere, perhaps?
As it happens, Stubbs' stepfather, Kelvin Lenord, of Taradale, is an Ocker on a six handicap.
"He joins in on the family banter, too," Stubbs reveals.
Can someone pass the salt and pepper, please?