A 12-year-old has wowed the sporting world after winning a golf tournament, even though he had only ever played three games in his life.

For whānau and his teacher-aide, the real win was not the gold medal, but hearing their boy speak after the game. Prior to his win he would not utter a word to anyone. Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau is autistic.

Now, the new champ is dreaming of speaking to the New Zealand Golf team, as NZ Golf have been in touch with the school to set up training and equipment for the team.

Bayleigh is from Tāneatua a small village in the Bay of Plenty and is the new champion of the nine-hole golf competition at the Zespri AIMS Games, a week-long intermediate-age sports tournament in Tauranga.

An astonishing achievement given Bayleigh only picked up a golf club for the first time two weeks before the tournament.

For whānau, the miracle of the win was not the gold medal, but when Bayleigh confidently spoke to media after the game, something that would have been hard to imagine before.

“I dreamed about coming here and finishing in first place, and I had a lot of fun,” says Bayleigh.

Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau and his proud koro. Photo by Jamie Troughton/AIMS Games.

This remarkable transformation began as soon as Bayleigh’s basketball boots stepped on to the fairways at Mount Maunganui Golf Club, says Jamie Troughton, a contractor for the annual games.

“He strode confidently from tee to green, his expression lodged somewhere between casual focus and easy joy. His booming drives helped him amass a staggering 87 Stableford points from his three rounds, never wavering.”

His parents Hemi Tarau and Pare Teepa, his koro and nan followed him in a cart.

“Oh, I'm so proud of him,” dad Tarau says.

“I’m surprised at how well he did because of his autism, but then I’m not surprised. He wasn't really a sports kid a few years ago, but he’s just got right into it now, and it has done amazing things for his confidence.”

Tarau suspects there’s something in the spectrum disorder that could be perfectly suited for golf.

“It doesn’t really fluster him too much if he does a bad shot. He just likes hitting, so he really doesn't care. And he doesn’t know how good he is.

Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau assesses his options at Mount Maunganui Golf Club on his way to a remarkable win in the Zespri AIMS Games nine-hole golf tournament. Photo by Jamie Troughton/AIMS Games.

It was a special moment too for Bayleigh’s teacher aide Whetu Wiremu, who has worked with him at the school for years.

“Winning a medal was just a bonus. The real win was seeing his confidence mixing with other kids, and hearing him speak,” says Wiremu.

“He never used to even talk to anyone. I've done heaps of work with him for the last couple of years just to get him out of his shell and into sport and I just treated him like I treated all the other kids. He ain't no different in my eyes.”

Wiremu, who grew up in nearby Rūātoki and is studying to be a teacher, said that golf is a great pathway for his young students.

“They come from a place where there's poverty, gangs, drugs, violence, and for them to have this type of opportunity to see and meet people like this is just real heart-warming for me.”

When Wiremu noticed that Bayleigh was always swinging a stick around, a habit he had picked up since he could walk, he decided to introduce him formally to golf.

Wiremu even had to ring around some mates to borrow clubs, and only had two weeks to practise before the competition.

“They've come a long way and for them to improve that much in such a short amount of time, honestly, I’m just so proud.”

Tāneatua School hasn’t had the funds to send its students to the games for 10 years, and the board had to raise the money so they could attend this year.

After the boys played, Te Ahuru Waititi, Tāneatua School’s sports co-ordinator, burst into tears.

“It's really, really emotional for me because I know the backgrounds of our kids and the hardships and the trauma – it's really hard-out,” she says.

The whole town had a celebration at the school on September 13, with a haka.

As well as winning his own title, Bayleigh helped his schoolmates Pedro Robinson and Lincoln Reneti to the team title as well.

The next dream for Bayleigh is to compete in the Special Olympics, and to help him on his way, a local construction business, Waiotahi Contractors, has offered to buy the town’s golfing champ his own set of irons.

NZ Golf has also been in touch with the school, says Wiremu.

”They are going to organise golfing equipment and stuff to wear for the kids which is awesome. It would be a dream for them too to meet some of the country’s players.”

A spokesperson for NZ Golf told Stuff that it could help set up a golf pathway called Futures, which empowers young people to take up the sport.

”It’s all about a good time and participation, and if great skills emerge from there, well who knows, but the main thing is that the kids are having fun in sport.

A total of 11,700 participants from 373 schools around the country and overseas took part in the annual AIMS games, with 25 sporting codes to choose from.

Anyone wanting to help Bayleigh in his golfing dream can do so here.

-Annemarie Quill/Stuff.