At the age of 15, Laurence Vargas is doing a pretty good job of following his dream - to play golf professionally.

Laurence, who lives in Caldicot and goes to school at Wyedean, has just been picked to play in the Wales vs England under 16 competition on the 31st August and 1st September.

"Most of the other boys taking part in this competition are 16 so Laurence is lucky to have been picked a year early." says Katherine Vargas, Laurence's mother.

"It's great experience for me," said Laurence, "and the best thing is I'll hopefully get to go back next year and compete again."

Laurence, who has been playing golf since he was five years old, was encouraged to play by his father. Although he excelled at football and cricket, he decided to concentrate on golf as this was his greatest passion.

"What I really want to do is play professional golf on tour and make that my full time job."

Laurence qualified for entry to the prestigious South West Golf Academy at the St Pierre two years ago and since then his game has taken off.

"I'm really grateful to my coach, John McDonald, who gives me a lot of confidence."

The Academy trains youngsters in all aspects of the professional game, from fitness to psychology. To stay in the Academy you must qualify in the annual entrance competition and also do well at school.

"We are assessed a lot and if we don't do well at school we are in trouble."

Laurence juggles a very hectic golf life with school fairly successfully.

"I missed quite a lot of preparation for my mocks last year because I was in Spain competing in the Interclub Championship. But I did ok in the exams so that was alright."

Laurence also plays for the St Pierre Junior and the Men's first teams, the Gwent under 16 and under 18's, the South East Academy and now Wales. He is certainly an up and coming star and someone worth watching.