CHARLOTTE ELLIS sets off on the road to Morocco next week as she bids to earn full playing rights on the lucrative Ladies European Tour.

It is a well trodden route for the 28-year-old Minchinhampton Golf Club member who lives in Cockleford.

She has twice shown the skill and determination to make it through the brutal Tour Qualifying School but thusfar she has not been able to consistently replicate that form – or her glittering career as an amateur – in three years as a pro.

At least she heads to the four-round pre-qualifying tournament at Rabat in Morocco in good form.

Ellis had her best finish as a pro on the tour when fifth in last week’s WPGA International Challenge at Stoke by Nayland Hotel Golf and Spa near Colchester.

Having shot a sparkling 68 in the final round of the Tenerife Open a fortnight previously, Ellis was joint-leader at five under par after two rounds of the International Challenge, playing some very encouraging golf.

She holed a 40-yard pitch for an eagle in her first round and followed that up with six birdies in the second.

But playing in the last group on the final day was a new experience in recent times and she had already dropped back when a triple bogey seven on her penultimate hole ended all hope of a top-two finish which would have booked her place on the 2015 tour.

“I’d not been in that position since my amateur days and I felt really nervous,” said Charlotte.

“I listened to some much while I was warming up – something I never do – but at least it helped me to calm down.

“The wind picked up on the final day and it was quite blustery. The other girls came out of the blocks fast with some early birdies but I made a slow start and was just hanging on from there.”

To get back on the main tour she must fight her way through four rounds of pre-qualifying at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam and the five-round qualifying finale over two courses in Marrakesh just before Christmas.

“I feel I have nothing to show for the way I’ve been playing but I will have to get over that,” said Charlotte. “And unlike most of the other girls at least I know what is needed to qualify having done it twice before.”