Three lads on a mission to play as many mini golf courses in New Zealand as they can find (so far 87 and counting) in just three weeks, found their way to Te Anau yesterday afternoon to add to their tally.

While the weather refused to play ball, Aucklanders John Middleton, Zac Roberts and Kyle Sutcliffe arrived to a warm welcome and offers of meals and somewhere to park their campervan for the night.

Their novel mission is to play all the mini golf courses in New Zealand and at the same time raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation.

Now 10 days into their 21-day odyssey, and about 44 Mini Golf courses done and dusted, their initial target of $2500 has already been well passed with more than $4000 raised so far.

Te Anau was initially left off their itinerary with the local Mini Golf course closed until further notice since the Covid-19 lockdown, but that didn’t stop Fiordland Community Board chairwoman, Sarah Greaney, and Skipper of the Faith in Fiordland, Adam Butcher from rallying the local community to get the lads to Te Anau.

“This was great opportunity to support a worthy cause and raise the profile of Te Anau, Mr Butcher said.

He convinced manager of the Te Anau Mini Golf and Bike Hire, Kate Barnes, to open up for the afternoon and encouraged locals to come out and cheer them on.

The lads were overwhelmed by the hospitality they found in Te Anau after being offered a free trip on Lake Te Anau and free dinner at the Olive Tree Café.

They said they have had some interesting moments along the way including rocking up to the Cady Cady Naturalist Park Mini Golf in Tauranga, where they said they definitely felt the cold, and playing a round of Mini Golf in Oamaru in the dark and pouring rain where they couldn’t even see the course.

They are clearly having a lot of fun on their journey and have a competition among themselves with each day’s winner getting to sleep in the top single bunk in their campervan while the two had to share the lower double bunk.

Anyone wanting to donate to the fundraiser can visit @par.four on Instagram, par four on Facebook or simply google mental health mini golf to find the donation link.