Kelly Miller action image, by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography.

Kelly Miller from Wales is living the

American Dream despite dyslexia

FROM THE WALESONLINE.CO.UK WEBSITE
by Anthony Woolford, Western Mail
She's tackled courses others only dream about on their PlayStations, receives personal tuition from Tiger Woods’ coach and has hit shots alongside golfing greats Vijay Singh, KJ Choi and Ernie Els.
Not a bad reward for a teenager happy to travel alone on trains, planes and automobiles to chase her American dream of joining the star-spangled LPGA Tour.
For while Kelly Miller’s school friends back home in Llanrhystud are slaving over text-books in preparations for their GCSEs, the 16-year-old is in a completely different class at the world famous Hank Haney Junior International Academy in the golfing paradise of Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Now in her second year on the International Junior Golf Tour, Kelly has three victories and nine top three finishes to her name. She is leading the girls' Order of Merit.
Everything seems on course for graduation with honours to the next stage of her American schooling.
But perhaps Kelly’s greatest battle is away from the fairways and greens and with the textbooks if she is to make her move to the American college circuit a reality.
Because Kelly like Tom Cruise, Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, Sir Steve Redgrave, Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg, Muhammad Ali and Walt Disney suffers from dyslexia.
It makes her decision to up golf sticks and move to the southern States, in the process and taking on a completely alien education syllabus, all the more remarkable.
But she admits: “Coming to the academy was the best decision of my life though I do miss my family and friends back home.
“I really thankful to my mum Hazel and dad Ian who sacrificed everything to get me over here.
“Hopefully now when I go to college I can get a scholarship and make them proud.
“I used to doubt myself but my confidence has soared since I first arrived.
“It is hard work because I am dyslexic and find school hard anyway.
“But if I want to go to college and play golf in America I realise I have to work hard at it.
“That’s the great thing about the United States is that if you are good at sport, they also really work you hard at your education, as well and giving you as much encouragement as possible.
“If you don’t pass your exams and get a good education then you can’t play golf – it’s as simple as that.
“I’ve been speaking to a few colleges and really hope I can get into a university somewhere in Florida.”
The IJGA is the only academy in the world which combines training, academics, and competition for serious junior golfers. Haney, coach of Tiger Woods, has a staff of 12 golf professionals and works with each student on a regular basis.
The academy has 150 students from 23 different countries. But how did a girl from Ceredigion end up jetting more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic to further her education?
“I have a friend Stephanie Meadow, who plays international golf for Ireland and she mentioned it to me,” added Kelly, who became hooked on golf after winning the Wee Wonders competition at St Andrews at the age of 11 – just months after picking up a club for the first time.
“Her family packed up living in Ireland and left for the United States to join her over there.
“I looked at the Academy on the internet and it looked really exciting.
“Because I want to go to college in America on a golfing scholarship, I thought this could be the best way to go about it.
“It was a hard and big decision to make because I had my GCSEs to think about in Wales.
“It was really expensive at first and that was a big consideration.
“Also I need my education and I had to weigh up getting my GSCEs to making the move straight away and try out their education system.
“Even though I am now studying totally different subjects it does give me a better chance of going to college.
“At first it was very scary going to the States because it was a completely different way of life.
“But we play golf every day, get coaching and I get the chance to work on my fitness as well as doing lessons.
“It is definitely much better.
“I go to school from noon to 5.30pm and have three lessons a day while the mornings are totally dedicated to golf.”
Apart from living away from her family, Kelly jets back and for to the States alone and nowadays she’s a seasoned globetrotter having travel arrangements down to a tee.
“At first it was scary travelling alone but now I’m used to it,” added the Welsh girls team member. “It’s a flight from Manchester to Atlanta, a connection to Savannah and then taxi to Hilton Head.”
But what more would you expect from a teenager who, at the age of 12, was hitting tee shots with some of the finest players around at the HSBC World Matchplay Championship, at Wentworth.
“I played in the Wee Wonders and won it twice which got me really interested in the game,” she added.
“They usually take the winners to America to play in a tournament but by the time that came around I was 12 and too old.
“So I went off to the World Matchplay at Wentworth and played a hole with the likes of Vijay Singh, KJ Choi and Ernie Els.
“That was really brilliant and really inspired me as I also met all the other professionals playing there.
“My dad plays off plus one and he’s the one who really encouraged me to play the game early on.”
Though life nowadays in the academy is a completely different ball game to 18 holes around Penrhos Golf Club.
“I have a swing coach, a short game coach and Hank Haney comes around often to check our swings,” added Kelly, set to spend another 15 months at the Academy before hopefully moving onto college.
“Having Tiger Woods’ coach standing over you watching you swing is pretty daunting to say the least and you think ‘oh wow’.
“He is a really nice guy, knows exactly what tournaments you’ve played in and how you’ve done. He is asking you how you are doing all the time and he is always desperate to see you improve your game.
“Having the coach of one of the greatest ever players in the game coming up to you and saying how much your golf has improved means a lot to me.
“My goal is to play on the LPGA so I can stay out in the United States because there’s so many great players out here now.
“Asian players seem to be taking over the LPGA and there’s a lot of Asian students at the Academy, particularly from China.
“There’s a lot of tournament golf for me here in the States particularly around Florida and North Carolina.
“I’ve played TPC Sawgrass and Kiawah Island and some other wonderful courses since I’ve been here.”
Her swing coach, Colby Huffman, who competed against many of America’s finest on the PGA Tour in college golf has given his Welsh student a glowing report card.
“Kelly has a lot of heart and natural ability,” he said. “She is always striving to improve and keeps calm under pressure.”
With that endorsement you get the feeling Kelly won’t let dyslexia be a handicap to her fulfilling the American dream.