Nā Te Okiwa McLean rāua ko Piripi Taylor nō Pūkāea.
Te Kura o Tāneatua golfers have followed a clean sweep at the 2026 Zespri AIMS Games with more success at the Classic Builders Taupō Junior & Masters 2026.
Competing in a field of more than 80 young golfers in Taupō, the small Eastern Bay of Plenty kura brought home a sportsmanship award, an under-13 girls’ title and victory in the overall closest-to-the-pin challenge.
Coach Te Whetu Wiremu accompanied the team.
“[A] big achievement to be here, and they’re doing well as well, so that’s a bonus.”
The results continue a growing golf legacy at the school.
In 2023, 12-year-old Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau attracted national attention when he won at the AIMS Games wearing basketball shoes and playing with borrowed clubs. This year, Tāneatua students claimed the top four places in the Division 1 boys’ nine-hole Stableford competition at the AIMS Games in Tauranga.
Charles Falwasser finished first, followed by Halo Te Whetū, Ryan Wiremu and Lewis Apanui. Te Ao Mārama Te Rupe won the corresponding girls’ competition, with Bayleigh’s sister, Mere Tarau-Teepa, finishing second. The school also won the Ambrose team title.
The team competing in Taupō included players with years of experience alongside others who had been playing for about eight months. At his first tournament, Te Kauru Taipeti received the sportsmanship award, recognising his kindness, respect and treatment of fellow players.
“This means a lot for Tāneatua because we’re a small town and this place is pretty big, so I’m happy about that,” he said.“
Just be kind, and if people are having a bad day, just keep motivating them.”
Te Ao Mārama, the only girl in the school’s Taupō team, added the under-13 girls’ title and overall closest-to-the-pin award to her AIMS Games success.
“I sacrificed my time with my friends, and I’m glad it paid off because I won a gold medal and a bag,” she said.
“I hope to be like Tiger Woods, and I hope to be a YouTuber like them.”
For Halo, who lives with ADHD, time on the golf course brings personal benefits.
“I was focused. It’s always quiet on the golf course,” he said.
Asked what came next after success at the AIMS Games and in Taupō this year and last, he kept his answer brief.
“Um, next year,” he replied, laughing.
The school’s achievements come despite limited resources and opportunities. Charles and Ryan are among those continuing to develop their game.
“We win and show to other people it’s not just a[n] older people’s sport, and every Māori can do it if they believe in themselves,” Charles said.
“A good golfer always goes when he doesn’t want to play golf,” Ryan said.
Charles also has his sights on a career in the sport.
“I want to play professionally so I can get all these mean-as prizes, make heaps of money and be successful in life.”
Tournament organiser Hamish Robertson outlined the purpose of bringing different age groups into the event.
“To connect the young and old. So the junior [and] mini - so junior is under 17 and under 13, and then mini is nine-holer. So you might sort of say a bit younger getting into golf,” he said.
“So as we connect, we see the young kids grow and the rangatahi really push forward, and the support has just been fantastic for what we had this year.”
Wiremu has watched the students’ progress both as their coach and as a fellow player.
“As a golfer myself, well, I try to be a golfer anyway, you kinda look up to people like Ryan Fox and Michael Campbell, who have led the way for Māori golfers and New Zealand Kiwi golfers,” he said.
“Yeah, and obviously the kids have met those kind of superstars of this game, and I’d really love [it] if one of these ones [became] that one day.”
