A Bay of plenty schoolboy has won a national golf title after playing just three rounds of the game in his life.
Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau nailed the nine-hole golf competition at the AIMS Games in Tauranga - an intermediate inter-school competition - with a Stableford score of 87, last week.
Bayleigh is from Tāneatua, which does not even have a golf course. But together with his Tāneatua School buddies, Pedro Robinson and Lincoln Reritito, they also won the teams gold, too.
Teacher aide Whetu Wiremu got him into the game after Bayleigh, who is on the autism spectrum, was struggling a bit - sitting under his desk and not really speaking to anyone.
But golf has changed that.
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"Every kid likes whacking things," Wiremu told Checkpoint on Wednesday, when asked why he introduced the trio to golf.
"I don't know, I just thought introducing them to the game, they'd like it. Myself, I started playing golf about nine or 10 months ago. Obviously I enjoy it, and I just wanted them to experience something else other than their normal sports like rugby, touch and netball and stuff … and they ended up loving it."
Pedro Robinson, Lincoln Reritito, Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau and Whetu Wiremu. Photo: Checkpoint / RNZ
Bayleigh had little idea just how well he was doing during the tournament.
"During Bayleigh's last round, there was a few guys that run the tournament that were saying, 'No one's gonna catch up to this fella - he's too ahead of everyone else,'" Wiremu said.
"At the moment in time, I couldn't really process it. But towards the end when he made his final putt, I was just like, 'Bro.' I told him the good news … he was going, 'Did I actually win?'"
Bayleigh said playing golf made him happy. Teammate Lincoln said they had only been playing for three weeks, crediting Wiremu with their rapid learning.
"Next time, we can coach him," Pedro quipped.
The boys used Wiremu's own clubs last week. He said since the tournament, the school has had offers of new sets from a few different people.
The boys showed Checkpoint host Lisa Owen - a self-confessed non-golfer - how to grip the club and swing properly.
"Whack it as hard as you can," Pedro concluded.