Up-and-coming Bermudian golfer Brady Cordeiro has spent almost half his life on the greens.

Now he is getting ready to test his mettle against international competition at the IMG Academy World Match Play Championships in Florida, which takes place next month.

Brady, a 14-year-old Warwick Academy student, said he started playing with the help of his father along with Bruce and Michael Sims.

“They sort of encouraged me along the way and I just stuck it out,” he said.

“It just grew from there. I started competing when I was eight years old.

“I like golf because it makes you use your mind.

“It makes you think a lot. It’s a lot like a chess game. I just find it a fun game to play.

“I’ve been playing a bunch of Junior Golf tournaments with the Bermuda Junior Golf Association over the years. The last two years I have been able to play at Pinehurst in North Carolina at the US Kids Teen World Championships.

“It’s an interesting tournament with kids from all over the world.

“It was a really good opportunity to see the different levels of play from around the world, especially compared to Bermuda as golf isn’t exactly the biggest sport here.

“I finished sort of in the middle of the pack. It seems that my age group for the last two years is the most competitive one. It’s a completely different atmosphere than here.”

Through the Bermuda Junior Golf Association he was also able to rub shoulders with some of the sport’s greats by caddying for competitors in the PGA Grand Slam, including Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy.

“It was an eye-opening opportunity to be around them for a full 18 holes,” he said. “We learn a lot from just being around them and watching them play.”

Earlier this year, he travelled to the US to train with Mike Adams, considered by Golf Digest to be one of the top ten golfing instructors in the world.

“He built up my confidence and as soon as I came back I won a tournament, the Glidden Bowl,” Brady said. “It was great. I shot three rounds in the 70s. That was a first for me.”

Late this past summer, Brady took part in a pair of golfing tournaments with the goal of earning a spot at the IMG World Match Play tournament.

“We were told at the beginning that the winner of one of the tournaments would have a spot with the tournament overseas,” he said. “I ended up winning both of the tournaments and getting a spot for it.

“Maybe a month or two ago I finally came under par for the first time at Port Royal. It seemed like everything was going my way that day.”

He said Port Royal was his favourite course on the Island, but he admitted that as a member of the club his opinion is somewhat biased.

Asked what advice he would give to other young people interested in hitting the greens, he said: “Start young, stick to it and play as much as you can.”