A Wānaka teenager who was gifted a set of golf clubs worth $5,000 is already using them “nearly every day”.

Monty Brown (16) missed out on a major prize by millimetres during this year’s New Zealand Open but his sportsmanship was rewarded a month later.

His attempt in the ‘Closest to the Pin’ fundraiser initiative at the New Zealand Open was just 830mm from the pin until he was beaten to the prize in the last ten minutes of the day.

His grace in missing out on the $5,000 prize was noticed by Craigs Investment Partners, who teamed up with golf club supplier Ping and the Wānaka Golf Club Pro Shop and last week they presented Monty with a brand new set of Ping clubs.

Monty told the Wānaka App the new clubs are “definitely” a big improvement on his old clubs.

The keen golfer picked up the sport around two years ago.

He now plays at Wānaka Golf Club two or three times a week and he is currently aiming to get his handicap of 15.1 down to “single digits” by the end of summer.

Monty told the Wānaka App he was attending the New Zealand Open for the first time when he came across ‘Closest to the Pin’ and thought to himself “let’s give this a crack”.

Even though he didn’t win, Monty said he was stoked with his result, and he was “blown away” when he was given the new clubs a couple of months later.

Monty said it would be “pretty cool” to go pro one day, but for now golf is “just for fun”.

Craigs Investment Partners adviser Paul Gardner said through the company’s support for the Closest to the Pin and a second New Zealand Open Initiative, Birdies for Charity, $25,000 was raised for Cure Kids and the Wakatipu Community Foundation.

“Craigs also wants to recognise up-and-coming young Kiwi golfers in their journey to the top, and supporting Monty is one way we can do this given his achievement and attitude on the day.”

PHOTO: Supplied