The 71-year-old is the new captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and his induction involved a lot of pomp.
He took part in the traditional driving-in ceremony in September which involved teeing off at precisely 8am as a cannon fired.
The tradition dates back to the early 19th century. The captaincy of the club used to bestowed on the winner of the annual Challenge for the Silver Club.
When the powers that be figured out it was perhaps not the best way to fix on a captain, they opted to elect the captain instead and stage a driving-in ceremony where the new captain was the only competitor in the competition.
Once the captain has clobbered the ball down the fairway, a cannon is fired to signal the end of the competition and the new captain then buys the ball back with a gold sovereign from the caddie.
That ball is then encased in silver and hung from a silver club — there is now five of them.
Brown’s position is largely ceremonial. It is his job to promote golf around the world and he was happy to accept the invitation to attend Otago Golf Club 150th anniversary.
The club is actually 151 years old but the celebrations were put back a year because of Covid.
"We are really looking forward to playing here [today]," he said.
"With it being the oldest club in the southern hemisphere it makes it a very special occasion.
"Given the significance of the event, the R&A were delighted to accept."
While Brown and his wife Christine are in New Zealand they will also attend the 150th celebrations of the Christchurch Golf Club.
New Zealand golf is in good heart at the moment. Steven Alker secured the Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Champions Tour on Monday and Lydia Ko and Ryan Fox have a chance to finish the season with an Order of Merit title as well.
"I had the pleasure of playing as an invited amateur in the Dunhill which Ryan Fox won. He’s a great golfer
and has actually had a great year and I can see him doing great things next year.
"And I was a referee at the Olympics in Rio where [Ko] got the bronze medal, so that was honour to referee the event and great to see her playing so well. And she has continued to play well since."
Of course the big story in golf this year is the arrival of a cashed-up competitor for the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf had been nibbling away at the PGA’s market share but The R&A has taken a neutral stance in the golfing wars.
"The R&A are very connected with The Open, so we’ve come out and said that it won’t have any impact on competing in The Open. We want the best golfers and so The Open will remain open. It has been like that for 150 years and it will continue like that."
Otago Golf Club general manager Shelley Duncan said Brown brought with him a lovely silver dish as a gift from the R&A and Otago Golf Club reciprocated with a pounamu which was blessed at Puketeraki Marae in Karitane yesterday.
Brown also visited Animation Research, which generates the graphics for The Open among other golf tournaments.
Sir Bob Charles, Greg Turner and Mahal Pearce are among the notable golfers who will tee up today as part of the celebrations.
"We’ve got about 70-odd players in the morning and a hundred in the afternoon. Then there is a formal dinner at Toitu [tonight]."
