Back in yonder times of yesteryear, King James II of Scotland banned golf because it was distracting his subjects from sharpening up their archery skills. Goodness knows what fate would have befallen Pamela Pretswell under King Jimmy’s sturdy rule? “We had a little holiday at Centre Parcs and I had a go at archery,” explained the Ladies European Tour campaigner who heads off to China this weekend to begin her 2017 season. “I was under the impression that it would be easy but the first arrow completely missed the board.” If she’d been around in 1457, that wayward aim may have seen poor Pamela drowned in the village pond for crimes against ye bow and arrow.

Here in 2017, Pretswell is far handier when it comes to hitting the target with a stick and ba’. This will be the 27-year-old’s fifth consecutive season on the main European stage but despite the consistency, she’s still trying to rattle the bullseye. A second place finish in the Czech Republic last year saw her flirt with that maiden win during a campaign that left her with mixed emotions. “It was a funny year because I had my best finish on the tour and made my debut in the US Women’s Open but, on the whole, it was a largely disappointing season,” reflected the former Curtis Cup player. “The season before was a breakthrough year for me. I finished 14th on the order of merit but in 2016 I just didn’t push on as much as I would’ve liked.”

Pretswell is raring to go this year. She’s not played since the Ladies European Tour wound down in Dubai in December and is keen to get cracking. “I’m even looking forward to getting on the plane for a long haul flight which shows I must be excited about getting going,” she added.

The extended break, and even the archery, has done the former British Women’s Amateur Strokeplay champion the power of good. “It’s been nice to stop,” she said. “Sometimes you just keep going and going and don’t give yourself any time to reflect and take stock. Usually we would have a couple of events in Australia and New Zealand early in the year but I decided to take it off, relax and do some other things. Last season, there were fewer events on the tour but they were spread throughout the year and it felt like a really long season. You couldn’t really switch off and it can become all-consuming. This has been the longest lay off I’ve had from the game since I was maybe 12. It’s nice to have a freshness and a clear head.”

Next week’s World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills sees Pretswell return to a course and an event where she has finished sixth before. Apart for the usual stuff – “putting in the big thing for me and I’ve been working hard on that over the winter” – Pretswell has also been working on a new grip.

“I have a tendency to grip the club too firmly,” said the former tennis player who was in the same junior set-up as Andy Murray. “It’s calmed down a bit now and my misses are not as big as they were.”

It’s a big year for women’s golf with the Solheim Cup taking place in the USA. It’s a big year too, off the course, for Pretswell as she gets married to her fiancé, Ryan. “The wedding is actually on the day the Solheim Cup starts on August 18,” she said. Pretswell is down in 26th spot on the European points list at the moment and would need a series of barnstorming results to figure in the Solheim shake up. “If I do have a remarkable season, I’m sure we can re-organise a wedding round the Solheim,” she said with a chuckle.

Her husband-to-be is a canny, six-handicap golfer himself and has caddied for Pretswell on a few occasions. So, could this be a new, profitable hubby and wife Scottish golfing alliance in the Graeme and Catriona Matthew mould? The laugh from the other end of the phone suggested otherwise.