The hard work reaped rewards for Elijah Gibbons as he became a world champion for the second time in three years - aged just nine!

Gibbons from Eastry, near Sandwich, finished seven shots clear at 20-over-par during last month’s Daily Mail World Junior Golf Championships at Villa Padierna, Marbella, Spain.

He had won in the under-7 category at the World Junior Golf Championships in the Algarve, Portugal, in 2023.

While Gibbons struggled to find his best form last year as he moved up to the 8-9-year-old age-group category, he made a conscious effort to put more work into his training in the lead-up this time around, which paid dividends.

Father Sam Gibbons said: “Elijah shot level-par on the first day, which was an unbelievable score. It was the lowest of any kid all week.

“He had five birdies and one eagle, which was impressive on a difficult golf course. It’s not a golf course you would ever normally walk.

“But there’s two golf courses there and the older boys, from 12 and 13 up to 18, play on the other golf course.

“That one is so hilly so what they end up doing is moving all the buggies from both courses onto that one course so those players can have buggies.

“Unfortunately for the younger boys, they were having to walk 18 holes every day.

“It really brings their fitness into play and their greens were faster than any greens you would ever play on in this country.

“But Elijah was leading by five shots after the first day.

“On the second day, he didn’t have his best day - he actually shot 10-over - and all the other boys seemed to do the same. You could really see their back-nine scores go up where they’re just getting tired.

“Elijah managed to keep a four-shot lead, going into the final round.

“The kids at nine are starting to feel the pressure and understanding how much they want to win it and, also, they’re understanding where they are and what their score means. So, there’s a fair bit of pressure and it’s quite tense with the other dads and stuff.

“They were hopeful they might get a few shots back early on in the round - but Elijah had five pars at the start, pretty much having a birdie chance at every hole. That extended his lead by one.

“Then on the sixth hole, he played a par-five and, where he can hit it so long, he got there in two and then chipped in for an eagle. That extended his lead to seven.

“That run on the first day and the fact he shot a level-par on the front nine on day three, that sort of did it for him. On the back nine, he was sort of able to just go along a bit more relaxed.

“He gave away a few shots - so did they - and I think he got his lead up to eight.

“It was a really different experience to the first time, which was neck-and-neck until the last couple of holes. He ended up winning it by seven shots against nine-year-olds from all over the world.

“That’s his second win in three years, which is very impressive.

"I’m proud of him.”

Elijah will step up to the 10-11-year-old category in 2026 but his dad predicts the member at Prince’s Golf Club will be up for the challenge.

“He still wants to go next year and he still thinks he’s going to win it,” Sam explained. “The great thing from this year is he’s seen the lesson - if you put in the work, you get the rewards.

“He’s sort of adamant he really wants to put in the work that’s required for next year, which is actually a lot more to do with fitness.

"He needs to go around the full 18 rather than falling away a little bit in the back nine, which is sort of what happened on the second and third day.

“If he wants to play against the bigger and older boys in the 10-11 category, he’s only just going to have turned 10 and some of the others are going to be 11 and nearly 12, so there’s going to be a big gap there.

“It’s more about being able to get around and concentrate for that period of time, but I think that’ll come naturally.”

While competition is fierce on the course, Elijah has made friends across the world off it.

Sam, who saw his son beat Northern Ireland’s Benji Botham - the grandson of cricketing legend Ian - revealed: “It’s beautiful to watch.

“All these kids are coming over to hug Elijah and shake his hand. Not only that, you see all the parents and the caddies together, as well.

"It’s such a community.

“Don’t get me wrong, he loves his golf. But he’s got so many international friends that he looks forward to seeing where they all tend to go to these big competitions.

“He has friends from all over the world so it’s such an amazing thing for his social development.”

A family-of-four, the Gibbons tend to turn Elijah’s golfing tours into holidays and were accompanied by Sam’s mum in Marbella.

“I bought a motorhome about three years ago because we were spending so much money on hotels in the UK throughout the year,” Sam explained. “It actually made sense for us to have a motorhome and save money in that respect.

“In 2023, we went to Portugal, then we drove to Marbella last year and again this year. My mum came with us.

“I have also got my wife, Elijah and my daughter, Symphony, who loves surfing. This year, we stopped off in San Sebastian about 12 hours in and we stayed there for a couple of days.

"She did some surfing on the two days we were there, and Elijah was riding his bike on the beach.

“Everything can be very golf-heavy and all about golf so we do always make sure we have a few days either side where we’re just doing some family stuff.

“Even on the days when we came off the course in the competition, there were days where we would just leave the course and go down to Marbella.

“We’d get on the beach and go to have some seafood so it’s not so golf-heavy. I just think you need that release, particularly with Elijah being so young.”

Elijah expects to compete Stateside this summer, as well as returning to the Amundi Evian Kids Cup in France, where he finished as a runner-up last year.

Sam said: “The plan is, because he’s won this Daily Mail World Championships, he’s qualified for the Under Armour Junior World Championships. They’re in the Reunion Resort in Florida and that’s in July.

“Just under two weeks after that, he’s also qualified for the US Kids’ World Championships, which is probably the best competition in the world in terms of its size and how prestigious it is.

“That’s at Pinehurst where they have the US Open, which is amazing.

“That’s in early August. Our plan is to head out for both of those championships in July.

“The Evian trip is in September and Elijah loved that so we’re going to do that again, which is just on the border of Switzerland.

“Last year, we did the golf and then went into the Swiss Alps, and it’s absolutely beautiful up there. We want to do that again.

"We’re going to Scotland in May, as well, for the US Kids’ European Championships.

“They’re the four main things for the rest of the year Elijah is working towards.”

You can follow Elijah at @biggie_the_bomber_gibbons on Instagram.