Bittle, 24, knocked his 5-iron into the hole for his first-ever career hole-in-one at the par-3 third hole from 177 metres. As a result, he is now the owner of a BMW iX xDrive40 valued at around $140,000.

Shepparton BMW’s dealer principle, Aaron Brain, travelled to the course this afternoon to present the keys.

“Not the greatest week of golf, but one shot made it special,” said Bittle, who is playing his first season on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

Bittle, who lives in Auckland, currently drives a Mazda 6 Atenza, but that is all about to change.

“I jokingly said to the boys before we hit that, ‘If there’s ever a time we go for a flag, it was now’,” said the Kiwi. “I didn’t hit it that great, but as soon as it landed, it was a chance, and it went in quite nicely.

“I picked a good time for it.”

Ironically when the ball ducked into the hole Bittle was not convinced that he had won the vehicle.

“I knew BMW were donating $250 for every birdie that went in, so I wasn’t sure if that was the only thing that was on offer. I wasn’t 100 per cent sure if the car was. I was hopeful!”

The magnificent iX hatchback was on display behind the third tee and was on offer for the first player – professional, amateur or junior – at the TPS Murray River event to hole out at the third.

As part of this year’s groundbreaking partnership between Australian Golf and BMW, another car will be on offer at the Vic Open at 13th Beach Golf Links next week.