KYRAN Bird was in no doubt. “This means the world to me,” he said with a broad smile.

That was the 15-year-old Bracknell schoolboy’s reaction after hearing he had secured a Feel Inspired Academy Scholarship from Sand Martins Golf Club, Wokingham.

Life doesn’t come that easy for Kyran, but golf lights up his face and gives him confidence.

He faces many challenges on a daily basis, including global development delay, speech, balance and coordination difficulties and is significantly overweight for his age.

In addition, he has some anger management issues and behavioural traits on the autism spectrum – but they are not displayed on the golf course.

Kyran is in his second year at the Sand Martins Academy and in that time has grown in stature and confidence by learning to play golf through lessons conducted by club professional Symon O’Keefe.

His 12-year-old brother, James, is also part of the academy and their parents are extremely grateful to the club as golf is having a big impact on their sons’ lives.

“It has improved their self-confidence no end,” said father David.

Golf runs through the family’s blood as a distant relative was Ted Ray, who captained the Great Britain team that lost the inaugural Ryder Cup on American soil in 1927 – having won the US Open four years earlier – and won the Open at Muirhead in 1912 as well as finishing runner-up on two other occasions.

A film featuring Ted Ray was released in 2005 and he is also the subject of a recently-published book entitled Ted Ray – The Forgotten Man of Golf.

For Kyran, being able to write a few simple words like “I really enjoy golf” means just as much for the Bird family and his Sand Martins coaches O’Keefe and Alan Leason.