Keen golfer and family man dies on 14th tee of Howick Golf Course after heart attack

Stuart Bremner with wife Joycelyn at Howick Golf Course. Photo / Supplied

Legendary golfer Ben Hogan once said: "As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round."

And Stuart Bremner made sure he put in a great one.

The keen golfer died of a heart attack on May 1 after teeing off the 14th hole at Howick Golf Course alongside his wife Joycelyn.

"He and mum were in good health and he literally had a heart attack on the golf course just behind mum as they teed off the 14th," son Fraser Bremner said.

"She turned around and couldn't do too much. They brought the machine down and tried to [revive] him and the ambulance did the same but he'd gone.

"He did it on the golf course, the place he would have wanted to die."

The 79-year-old is survived by his wife, son Fraser, daughter Andrea, and seven grandchildren.

After the lockdown ended on April 27, Bremner and his wife went for a round of golf the following Friday.

They had played three holes after starting on the 10th when they reached the 14th.

In golf, the women's tee is closer to the hole than the men's and after her shot, Joycelyn started walking towards her ball on the fairway.

"They had both teed off, mum was in front of him and their balls were no more than two metres away from each other down the fairway," Fraser said.

"A person on a neighbouring fairway called out because he fell over and had his bag on top of him and mum turned around and ran back to him but he had gone."

Bremner had played golf most of his life and had been a member of the Howick Golf Course since 1987 when the family moved to Auckland.

Back then he worked for the TAB, a career which spanned 30 odd years, as a manager in the telephone betting side of the agency.

Outside his career, Bremner had a love for the outdoors which radiated to his family.

Stuart Bremner at St Andrews Links in Scotland, the home of golf. Photo / Supplied

Together they tramped all over New Zealand and Fraser said he had great memories of tramping the Abel Tasman National Park.

"That's where he wanted his ashes to be buried," Fraser said.

"Someone has to walk down into the Abel Tasman National Park and scatter his ashes across Anchorage Bay or the one next to it, Te Pukatea Bay."

Originally from a farming background in Gisborne, Bremner retired three or four years ago but maintained an ethic of working hard.

Golf course memberships had been declining across the country for several years and to help his club, Bremner split wood to raise funds and also helped with maintenance.

"As he got to retirement age he's been helping Howick Golf Club in the aspect of grounds maintenance and odd greenkeeping duties," Fraser said.

"Dad's been busy just trying to weed out all the rubbish and make the course as clean and nice as he could.

"He's played some 180 courses around New Zealand so I think he had an appreciation of what great courses looked like."

Bremner was farewelled in West Haven yesterday.

The Bremners held off the funeral for the past week because they were expecting a limit of 100 people who could attend funerals to be announced.

The prolonged grieving process was only made worse by being told they would need to limit the attendees to just 10 people.

Despite the Government later allowing up to 50 people attending, the family decided it would only let a few extra members of the wider family attend.

After the funeral, the hearse drove past the Howick Golf Course in remembrance.

Bremner would be remembered for the love he had for his family and the sporting community, especially golf, Fraser said.