As most of us know, this intoxicating, infuriating, occasionally insufferable pursuit known as golf can add years to you.

"I feel like I'm 30 I've been out here so long," said the fresh faced 22-year-old Carly Booth. Goodness knows how old some of we golf writers in attendance felt as we gazed at each other's increasingly wizened features and sighed.

It's sometimes hard to think that Miss Booth is, indeed, a mere 22. We've been writing about her and documenting her progress for so long now you half expect her to turn round and say 'my god, are you lot still on the go?'

From Britain's youngest club champion at the age of 11 to a double Ladies European Tour winner less than a decade later, Booth has grown up in the spotlight. It's not an easy place to exist, of course. Publicity, pressure, praise, put downs. There were even nude photo shoots to generate more kerfuffle.

Great expectations can be hard to deal with. At the end of the day, Booth is still just a young lassie from rural Perthshire who is dealing with the hassles and heartbreaks that are part and parcel of growing up.

When she made her breakthrough on the main European Tour in 2012, with a double whammy of wins in the Scottish and Swiss Opens, it seemed the supremely gifted Booth was set to blast off on the kind of upward trajectory usually reserved for vessels of galactic exploration. Since then though, the former Curtis Cup player has remained firmly anchored to the launch pad.

The season after that brace of victories, Booth made just three cuts in 16 events. Last year, she made just four cuts from 19 and didn't break 70. The 2015 campaign had been stuttering along a similar path as she slithered down to 490th on the world rankings but a share of 10th in the Turkish Open last month, Booth's first top-10 in almost two years, hinted at a change in fortune. She was happy on the course but, importantly, she was happy off it.

It's taken her time to find that sense of contentment again. The crumbling of a personal relationship had clearly taken a major toll, both emotionally and mentally. Her social media page, jam-packed with cheery selfies, smiling emoticons and upbeat updates, more often than not gave the impression of a girl in love with life. "Yes, I did give that impression very well, didn't I?" she admitted. "I'm very good at that. I wanted you all to think that. But it was hard, it was a grind. I just kept trying every day, trying to find ways to make it all better. It was more of a cover. Well, maybe not a cover as such, but it was an impression I gave. I wasn't a happy person. I was in a bad place. I hit rock bottom this year, just after an event at Mission Hills in March. It was due to personal things. I was working hard, I was doing my best, in my golf, in my fitness. But I think I lost it a lot on the mental side. My belief had gone, and it is just something that I have gradually started to overcome. But I wasn't a happy person for maybe a year and a half. I'm now on the right side of it, I feel. I'm in a happy pace. And that is why my golf is starting to come along again."

Key to this feel good factor has been Booth's alliance with her new coach Daniel Haughian, who passes on pearls of golfing wisdom to a mixed bag of golfers and wannabe golfers like former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke. "Dwight thinks he is a golfer," added Booth with a smiling chuckle. "He is trying to get ready for the seniors tour. He's 43. And he thinks he'll be ready in six years. It will be interesting to see. But Daniel has been a huge help to me. He is not only working on the golf side of things but he has actually become my best friend. He's a shoulder for me, I can talk to him about anything and he is such a positive person. He is so upbeat. Turkey was great, we had such a great laugh and he is just fun to be around. He brings out my good side and it is hard not to be happy around him. It was enjoyable to have him caddie for me. Turkey, I swear to you, was the first week in a couple of years where I actually enjoyed being at a tournament. I'm now getting the right people around me."

Booth will be on European Tour duty in Holland this week as she looks to build up a head of steam for a busy summer on home soil which includes the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald and the Ricoh Women's British Open at Turnberry.

The slate it, it seems, has been wiped clean and a re-energised, re-focused Booth is ready for a fresh start.

"There are loads of things where I can say, 'oh, I wish I didn't do that', but you know what, I am who I am today and I've learnt from my mistakes," she said. "You can't say 'I wish I hadn't done that'. You need to be positive. Do I feel like I get back to the form of 2012? Yes, I do because now I can just focus on me and put myself first. Golf is now my priority. I want to be back in the winner's circle very soon.

"I think I am a very mature 22-year-old. This is my sixth year on tour and every day is a learning day. I could be sitting here aged 38 or 42 and I'd still be learning every day. I do feel like I have age on my side."

The golf writers, meanwhile, peered at each other again and sighed.