After claiming an impressive golfing title at the Aims Games, Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau said he “just couldn’t wait to watch” Ryan Fox up close after getting the chance to caddy for the world No. 28.

Teepa-Tarau, a 12-year-old autistic schoolboy from a small rural town in the Bay of Plenty, was invited to caddy for Fox during the Chasing the Fox event at Royal Auckland and Grange on Thursday after winning the Aims Games nine-hole golf competition after only having played three rounds of golf in his life.

He and a group of family and friends from Tāneatua, including teacher aide Whetu Wiremu, were invited to attend the event and rub shoulders with some of the country’s biggest stars.

Teepa-Tarau said it was “good as” to meet Fox, and before the round got under way, the group shared time on the driving range with the likes of Shaun Johnson, Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie, Ross Taylor and Fox, before getting a front row look at Fox in action.

“It’s a real special thing for myself and the boys to have whānau here,” Wiremu said. “It’s super special for them to share this opportunity and experience with their parents.”

It was Wiremu who first saw Bayleigh’s talent after taking his clubs to school with him as he had been “shanking” his chips. Some of the students saw him practicing during lunchtime and asked to have a go.

Whetu Wiremu was presented with a new set of clubs. Photo / Dean Purcell

Wiremu said there was a cone out on the field and challenged the students to put it as close to the cone as possible, and Bayleigh put it next to it a number of times.

“He grew up watching Happy Gilmore as a kid. His papa used to take them out mini-golfing and to the driving range when they were little kids. I guess Bayleigh has always had that sneaky passion about the game but he had never been formally introduced to it. When he was, he went for it and he took every opportunity. This is where he’s at now,” Wiremu said.

The Herald understands the trip was funded by a group of 30 prominent Auckland golfers, who also presented Wiremu with a brand new set of clubs in appreciation of his passion for the sport and the fact he is sharing that passion with the next generation.