McCook is in 'Q' to go to very top of the tour
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GRANTOWN'S rising golf star Hannah McCook feels the time is now right to make the step up to the professional game.
But she will have to prove her worth by taking on some of the game's best players from across the globe to earn her playing rights on the Ladies European Tour.
The 25-year-old will be competing at Qualifying School for the very first time with the tough contest teeing off tomorrow at Amelkis Golf Club Marrakech in Morocco.
McCook was on sparkling form this past season with back-to-back victories in the Welsh and Irish women's open stroke play championship; a semi-final finish in the Scottish Women's Amateur Championship and a top five at the St Rule Trophy in St Andrews.
The great run of results has convinced McCook she is now ready to make the transition to full-time pro.
Her aim is to gain full playing rights after all nine rounds in Morocco.
However, she said even earning some tournaments on the top-flight will be enough for her to take the plunge.
McCook said: "The goal has to be to earn my full Ladies European Tour card but if I can gain any playing status on the tour then I will definitely be going pro.
"I will be heading out there and giving it my very best and we'll see what happens."
She admits to being excited and a little apprehensive about the big test awaiting her.
"I have thought about making the move to pro for several years and I probably expected to be at that level by now if you had asked me just after leaving university," she said.
"But in recent seasons I did not think I was at the required stage to make the breakthrough. However, this past season has been very different. I definitely feel ready to take the next step."
McCook jetted out of Edinburgh to Marrakech on Tuesday and she hopes that it will just be the start of the journey to take her to the game's pinnacle.
Qualifying School is held over two stages, pre-qualifying and final qualifying for the tour.
The top 25 players following Final Stage will gain their tour cards. Players – rising stars and those who have lost their tour playing rights – will all have to focus for 162 holes enduring intense pressure to make the grade.
Other categories are available for players who finish high up but not within the top 25, enabling them to receive their card but limited opportunities to gain a place in fields.
McCook will get two official practise rounds at Amelkis Golf Club before the first of four rounds get under way.
Final qualifying is over courses at the same venue and at Palm Ourika Golf Club, also Marrakech, from December 16 to 20.
Although the surroundings will be new – McCook has never played the courses before – there will be some familiar faces to help put her at ease.
"I will know some of the girls from the amateur circuit who will also be bidding to get their cards," said McCook.
The weather will also be a lot kinder than the conditions she has had to endure as she warmed up for Q School.
McCook has been a fixture on the fairways at Grantown and Spey Valley in recent weeks when not working at Sportscotland's Glenmore Lodge.
"I've been practising in the cold, rain and wind. Looking at the forecast for Marrakech, the temperature should be around the low 20Cs," she said.
McCook has been preparing under the expert eye of her coach David Torrance, now pro at the Macdonald Hotels and Resorts golf club in Aviemore. She has received great support from Scottish Golf who have helped with her funding and coaching through her amateur career and family and friends.
* Follow Hannah's progress at https://ladieseuropeantour.com/lalla-aicha-school-2017
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