GOLF-mad teenager Marcus Lovesey, who suffers with sight problems and learning difficulties, has upset the odds to win the Canford School Golf Club Masters.

Despite his plus-10 eyesight and global learning difficulties – which involves traces of several different conditions including autism and dyspraxia – 14-year-old Marcus overcame a host of senior club members to lift the prestigious crown.

Majestic Marcus has just joined Ferndown Golf Club where he is set to receive coaching over the next couple of years.

Proud dad Peter, a former professional himself, has lofty ambitions for his son’s burgeoning talent and hopes to secure a scholarship for the vastly improving youngster.

Peter, 49, told the Daily Echo: “I’m over the moon. His game has suddenly come in the past six months and he has come down from a handicap of 20 to just 12 in the past three months.

“He just keeps getting better and better and he absolutely loves it.

“He doesn’t care much about anything else and has more talent that I ever had.

“My aim is to get him down to scratch in the next three years and get him a scholarship at either Brockenhurst or in the United States and with his current progress I expect him to achieve that.

“In the short-term, we’re looking at getting him to a level which allows him to play in the English Amateur Championships and British Open qualifying.”

As well as his Canford success, Marcus has reached the quarter-finals of the Peter Alliss Young Masters Trophy for the past two years and recently won at Ferndown’s Junior Invitation Team Event alongside Sianell White.

On his son’s condition, Mr Lovesey added: “At six or seven years of age he was sitting very close to the TV. We took him to the doctors but they didn’t diagnose him initially.

“In the end they found out he has got plus-10 vision which is one of the worst you can have without being fully blind.

“He isn’t so bad with the longer vision and a lot of it comes down to him getting a feel for the ball.

“It has been difficult and every day has its challenges but he has really come on through his golf which has helped him to initiate conversations with people.”