Bruce Taylor celebrates his win with the Challenge staff. Photo: Supplied

They have been handing out prize money left right and centre at Lake Taupo Golf Challenge, with four people taking the top prize of $10,000 so far this year.

By Dan Hutchinson

The latest winner was Bruce Taylor from Taranaki who only hit 20 of his 50 balls before the $10,000 shot.

Operations manager Claire Mitchell says it’s a lot of winners to have in one year, but they have also had a lot more customers through since they added their café and covered tee-off area.

Last summer was their busiest ever.

She says spectators who used to just watch, were now coming into the café and then having a go too.

They have also had more presence on social media, particularly with their $10,000 winners.

“So that's kind of boosted our presence."

Three of the winners have been from New Zealand and one from London.

"We ended up on the BBC with the London one (Luca Walton). He got a lot of attention over there, so that was exciting for him. It was great, just bringing a lot of attention to our town, which is pretty cool."

Lake Taupō Hole in One Challenge operations manager Claire Mitchell has been handing out the winnings this year. Photo: Dan Hutchinson

Other winners this year have been Callum Hill from Christchurch and Thomas Ross from Hamilton.

She says the winners tend to be weekend golfers rather than professionals.

They supply the clubs or people can bring their own and some hopefuls turn up with their whole caddy full of clubs.

She says the increase in the number of winners might be due to a number of factors, including more people doing it, increases in skill levels or the technology behind clubs.

Despite the increase in the number of winners, she says there are no plans to move the pontoon further out to make it harder, just yet.

She says the reaction of the winners was a real highlight of a job she has been in for less than a year.

She says she happened to run into Thomas and his family at Two Mile Sailing Club later in the day, after his win.

“So, we got to sit down with him and talk to him and get to know his family, and he was just such a cool, sweet guy. And his dad was explaining that the money was going to just really help him out because he wasn't able to work.

“So, it's kind of stories like that that make it just a great place to work. It's not just money it's like money that can really help someone."