What a year it's been for Luke Brown, as the Pines golfer added Northland's premier matchplay title, the Explore New Zealand James Busby Plate, to his recent Northland Strokeplay title.
Brown beat Northland teammate Sean Masters on the 18th but the weekend's tournament will be remembered less for the tight final and more for an incredibly dramatic semifinal at the Waitangi Golf Club.
Up against his Northland skipper Brad Bonnington, the pair were all square through 18. Both golfers missed birdie putts on the 19th to halve the hole. Brown almost cracked on the second extra hole, missing a two metre putt for the win but nailing a 1.5m return putt to continue the match.
Brown's tee shot on the on the short par-5 21st ended up behind a tree and his attempt to punch the ball out still left him in trouble among the trees. An attempt to play a creative shot to the green clipped another tree but left him in the clear, although still some 80m short of the green.
The Wellsford golfer hit his second over the back of the green and was well placed to wrap up the match. Brown's fourth shot was all over the flag but he still had a tricky 4m downhill sliding putt. Bonnington played a good chip but the ball kept rolling downhill to end up seven metres from the cup. The birdie attempt was on line but finished just short and Brown stepped up and slotted his putt for a game-saving half.
The 22nd was a difficult par-4 and a pulled tee shot saw Brown in trouble once again with his ball ending up unplayable against a rock and well off the fairway. After taking his penalty, Brown's third landed on the green but ran into the rough over the back. Bonnington hit a good tee shot but his second flew the green leaving a challenging up and down. His chip was well short and Brown pitched next to the pin. A missed putt by Bonnington resulted in another pair of bogie fives.
Both players missed good birdie opportunities on the par-5 23rd hole and they both bogeyed the difficult par-3 sixth at Waitangi with the 25th halved in regulation pars before the pair stood on the 26th tee.
Brown fired his drive well down the fairway while Bonnington pulled his tee shot into the trees. His second shot found the water hazard short of the green and Brown hit his second four metres from the pin.
With half of his ball in of the water, Bonnington wasn't ready to concede the hole and took his shoes and socks off to play a brilliant shot that rolled past the flag but far enough to lie in the rough at the back of the green. His chip nearly went in but the close miss gave Brown two routine putts to seal the match after an incredible eight extra holes.
The second semifinal was tame by comparison as Masters wore down fellow Kaitaia golfer Brett Dormer 3/2 to reach the final.
The tournament was a great warm-up for most of Northland's top senior players for this weekend's team's matchplay event, the Interdistrict Quadrangular, against Auckland, Waikato and Taranaki at The Grange in Auckland.
The team in playing order is: Brad Bonnington (C), Alex Neely, Chase McKeown, Sean Masters, Luke Brown, Kadin Neho, Brett Dormer, Lee Neumann, Reserve: Thomas Neylon. U16s: Braden Keown (C), Julian Fowler, Taylor Gill, Ben Bowmar, Reserve: Jackson Arkle.