Nine-year-old Lachlan Trevarthen only started playing golf just two years ago, but the young Ulverstone golfer is already making a name for himself in the north-west region of Tasmania.

Playing in his first pennants match at the weekend for Ulverstone's open-age division five team — having taken his Dad Tom's position — Lachlan triumphed over his adult opponent on the 19th hole.

"The smile on his face was incredible," said Tom. "I'll be honest, I didn't let a tear out, but I choked up a bit. I was pretty proud of what he'd done."

A regular at TeeMates events across Tasmania, Lachlan has more than halved his handicap in just over 12 months, currently playing off 26.2.

The match was a see-sawing affair, with Lachlan gaining a one-shot lead on the 16th before losing it the very next hole.

With many of Ulverstone's division one team sticking around to watch the thrilling finish, Lachlan had a crowd for his 3-foot putt for the win on 18.

"You could see he was nervous. If you were close enough you could see he was shaking," his dad said.

"He just hit the ball through the break and made a little tap-in to move on to the 19th."

Understandably disappointed, Lachlan showed the composure of a player well beyond his years as the match moved to extra holes.

"On the tee, the captain of the day just spoke to him and said, 'look mate, we've already won the team side of it, so whatever happens here you've done really well'.”

With his opponent finding the trees, Lachlan did what he had done all day and found the fairway, found the green in regulation and secured the win.

Tom commended Lachlan's opponent from the weekend for his sportsmanship, helping the nine-year-old whenever he had a chance.

"Lach can be really hard on himself and he played a couple of bad shots that lost him a hole and the guy that he was playing against was like,' it's all right mate, next hole you'll be right, you'll come back'," said Tom.

"He was really encouraging the whole day and when it was all over, he and I were walking and he goes, 'he's going to be a great player when he's older'."

Lachlan's next goal is to get his handicap under 20, and will be working hard through the TeeMates program to ensure he gets there.

Golf is all about firsts – your first long putt, your first chip-in, your first par, your first birdie, your first hole-in-one, the first time you break 100. We are celebrating all our TeeMates Firsts in a special series across our Golf Australia channels.

Please send us your story of your TeeMates First to [email protected]. We’d love a photo or video and some information to help us tell the story.