HOPES of securing a European Tour spot for next season are high for Wiltshire pro Laurie Canter, who next week will jet south to Tarragona, Spain, for the concluding qualifying round of Q-School.

Canter, 28, performed sufficiently to dodge this weekend’s second qualifying stage and book his spot at Q-School’s final stage, where 25 European Tour cards are on offer for the top performers across six days of gruelling competition.

It’s been a season of mixed fortunes for Canter, who has competed in 27 events since the turn of the year.

A T8 at the Barclays Kenya Open back in March proved the Bath-born professional’s best result, but differing performances since then have seen the Cumberwell Park player record finishes ranging from 26th to 152nd.

Having played at Q-School level for the past three seasons, Canter is under no illusions regarding how tough next weekend will be.

“It’s the same process I’ve been through in each of the past three years, heading straight to the final stage,” said Canter.

“I remember saying similar things this time last year, I feel like I’ve moved on with regards to my game.

“I’ve played some really good golf at times this year, I just haven’t quite managed to bring it all together.

“I’ve been happy with my game, and I feel over the last month or six weeks that things have started to come together.

“I really struggled in the middle of summer at some of the bigger Rolex events where you can make a lot of headway in terms of reaching the Race to Dubai at the end of the year or keeping your card.

“I played poorly in those events, but my last three or four events I feel as though I’ve started to turn things around.”

Canter is currently in the middle of a rare two-week break at home.

Using the time to rest and recuperate ahead of his biggest weekend of the season, Canter admits he’s largely using his spare time to focus on ‘fine tuning’ areas in which he needs to improve on slightly.

That includes improving his accuracy from the tee.

He said: “It was a result getting to the final stage.

“It has been a long season, I’ve played 27 events – so it is nice to get home and have a couple of weeks off.

“I didn’t do too much last week, I practised for a couple of days and been completing some work with my trainer.

“This week I’ll increase my levels of golf and travel a day earlier than I normally would for a competition just to give myself that extra day to prepare.

“Hopefully come the first round I should be ready, and my game will be in a good place.”