OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Jamaica’s new golfing sensation Wesley Brown attributes the upswing in his fledgling professional career to “discipline” and “patience”.

Brown, in “his early 20s”, also urged young, aspiring golfers to let his watch words be their guiding light.

“I have learnt to stay disciplined and patient. To young golfers, I would say the same to them. They must trust that the work that they put in will pay off one day, and they should never give up,” Brown told reporters cover the awards ceremony of the 12th Sandals USA Travel Agents Golf Tournament at Sandals Grande Riviera in Ocho Rios on Saturday night.

Brown, a native of St Ann and a product of the Sandals Golf and Country Club, pointed to his steady move up the professional ranks, urging young golfers that they can take a page out of his book if they too have dreams of soaring to the top.

“Where I am coming from and to be here right now shows you that with hard work you can succeed. I am not at the PGA yet, but it has all been good so far, and I have done that with hard work and dedication,” he said.

After entering the professional ranks in 2013, Brown said he truly began to find his footing this year where he performed in 10 tournaments on the National Golfing Association (NGA) circuit.

But winning two — the Carolina Pro Series and the Woodcreek Classic Invitational — has been the highlight, says Brown.

“Last year I was very nervous as I don’t know what I was doing or what to expect, everything to me was so surreal. It’s like asking myself ‘what am I doing here?’ It was like moving to a new place, not knowing anyone and you are there all by yourself.

“But this year I knew better what to expect and that’s why I performed so well, by using the experiences of last year and bringing that into this year. So I have to say that last year was a good year because I have won, not once, but twice,” Brown beamed.

Next year, the Sandals golfing ambassador is looking to excel in the Web.com Tour Professional tournament, with the view of getting on to the glamorous PGA Tour circuit.

“My expectation for next year is to qualify for the Web.com tour, and if I can make it through that, I can make it to the PGA Tour,”

he said.

But golf is an expensive sport, and according to Brian Roper, the general manager of Sandals Grande Riviera and solid backer of Brown, it will require no less than US$50,000 (J$5.5 million) to cover related costs for 2015.

“It will take something in the region of US$50,000 for next year, but we must not lose the opportunity to help this young man as he is the first Jamaican who has gone away and won events, he has the talent.

“We are now sourcing the proper coaching for him, we are working on his nutrition and fitness. Also, I am appealing to corporate Jamaica that we owe it all to a young man like that as I know he will make Jamaica proud,” Roper said.

But Sandals Resorts International, through its foundation, has demonstrated its belief in Brown’s ability by putting their money where its mouth is, lending varying degrees of assistance to the golfer from his grassroots level through rise through

the ranks.

“All of this would not be possible without the help of the Sandals Foundation and the Sandals family help…I must thank them all, plus my manager Tony Ebanks for putting everything together.

“I started playing back when I was about 10 years old in Runaway Bay and joined the Sandals family when I was 16 years old and I have played on the junior national teams and then turned professional a year ago, and with the help of Sandals I got the opportunity to go and play in the Carolina Series,” said an obviously grateful Brown.

In his 10 tournaments last year, the Hamstead, St Ann, native boats of “nine top-six finishes and one top-24 finish”.

Even without a professional coach at this stage, Brown has worked tirelessly with the help of the Sandals family to improve on his game.

“I have really been working hard on my short game, cleaning up those five-footers and 10-footers, so basically I have been scrambling better this year than I have done last year and that has increased my scoring average. Last year, that average was 69-point something, but this year it’s 68, which is about four under par, so that makes a big difference in scoring,” he explained.

Brown, humble yet focused, will be the first to remind people that though his career is on the right path, there is a lot more work to be done on his technical game. Also, he was quick to concede that he is still off the mark in experiencing some of the finest courses in the world.

“I have not played on golf courses that the PGA professionals play on, but the ones I have played on are similar. They have tight fairways, thick roughs, fast hard greens, and long courses as well.

“So while the scores that I have shot on those courses are pretty good, I would have to say not good enough as I need much more work,” he said.

Even as he aims to make his own mark on the great fairways of the world, Brown fashions his philosophy of the game off the American great, Tiger Woods.

“Tiger Woods is really my inspiration and I admire him for his desire and hunger to win and the way he has succeeded in becoming the king of golf,” Brown concluded.