Some may say that golf is a difficult sport – but eleven year old Kieran Chapman may disagree.

In his first ever event, just five months after taking up the sport, the young Addington Court Golf Club member won the club’s first junior competition of the year, and now leads the Croydon golf club’s 2010 Junior Order of Merit.

Kieran, a pupil at Courtwood Primary School in Addington, beat fourteen fellow competitors on Saturday 23rd January, in chilly conditions, to win the first in a series of twenty-four Junior golf events which the club will run this year.

Kieran’s remarkable score of 23 points over the club’s 9-hole Academy course gave him a two-point victory over the rest of the field.

The sports-mad youngster first played golf in a schools coaching session at the popular local golf centre, and has since attended the free Tuesday evening and Saturday morning sessions at Addington Court GC.

He is a regular pupil of golf coach Alex MacGregor, who teaches all ages at Addington Court’s Crown Golf Academy.

Paul Oliver, Director of Golf at Addington Court Golf Centre, said: “We may be celebrating a new star here! Kieran is a natural at golf. He took to it immediately and shows a fantastic flare for the sport.

“We are all amazed at how quickly he has progressed, particularly as – unlike many other junior golfers – he has no other golfers in his family to help him practice and learn the game.

“Our Junior section is growing rapidly, and with youngsters like Kieran in the mix, we hope to have a very successful season.”