Luke Groves will travel to Egypt next month intent on putting some lessons he’s learnt into practice.

The South Oxhey golfer is due to make the competitive start to his second year as a professional on February 14 when the new Alps Tour season gets underway at the Ein Bay Open.

Groves, who only took his first swing of a club as a 15-year-old, competed in 10 tournaments on the European satellite tour last year, but also missed several due to personal reasons. The 24-year-old’s best result came in Egypt with a share of sixth at the Dreamlands Pyramids Open and later in the year he lost out in a play-off at the WGM Czech Open.

Groves has been hard at work in the gym with trainer Jason Hamilton in the build-up to the new season “to give me the best opportunity” and claims it is “the best I have ever felt” mentally.

This desire and indeed necessity to put in the hard yards and get into the best condition before his season starts is fuelled by the experience of his first year on tour and acknowledging where he made mistakes.

“It’s been a massive learning curve, travelling-wise to learning a lot about myself,” the former Bushey Hall School pupil said when he reflected on his first year on tour. “The talent out there is good so you need to make sure you’re 100 per cent focused and I had a few personal things holding me back so I missed seven or eight events I shouldn’t have missed [on the Alps Tour]. But I’ll be going into it fresh and I’ll do things correctly this time.

“You’ve got to be selfish out there,” he continued. “I think I got too involved in the crowds and I needed to take it more seriously. You need to do things in your own time and not follow the crowds and do it too their schedule, do things that work for you and give you the best chance of winning.

“Turning pro is a gruelling time. You’ve got to work hard. In this sort of [cold and wet] weather if you’re lying around at home, the boys will be out there practicing, that’s how you’ve got to look at it to reap the rewards in the future.”

If Groves needed further convincing of what is possible when talent is allied with hard work, he has two very good examples on his doorstep in Bushey’s European Tour player Callum Shinkwin and his fellow Moor Park Golf Club professional Matt Wallace, who dominated last year’s Alps Tour with six tournament wins and will be competing on the Challenge Tour this year.

“I was lucky enough to caddy Callum at tour school in 2013 when he was an amateur and he got his Challenge Tour card through there and I realised how good you’ve got to be,” said Groves. “He’s a very good player and he’s a very good friend of mine so I’m so happy to see him push on, but it helps so much…especially with Matt. He’s done it [on the Alps Tour] and now I’ve seen that. He lives five minutes away so if I need his advice I can give him a ring, the same as Callum.”

Golf is the priority but it is not only sport on Groves’ mind. A boxer when he was younger, the golfer is tailoring his training to also be ready for a planned return to the ring on April 1 for a charity show in aid of breast cancer research at Watford Leisure Centre.

Groves admitted his fight preparations are also helping to take his mind off golf when he needs a break. It is on the greens and fairways where his long-term sporting ambitions will be decided though, and with a year’s experience under his belt he has a greater appreciation of the importance of being patient and realistic.

Asked what his short-term targets are, Groves responded: “Just to push on and be a better player and start performing as I know I can, be in contention more and have more confidence on the course.

“Small and sensible goals and push on from there, and then the long-term goals speak for themselves. There’s where I’m at mentally at the moment, step by step and then I’ll push on.”

Groves’ preparations for this season have been boosted by the addition of two new sponsors – clothing brand Barror London and Whitley Neil Gin – who join existing backers Danslow Signs, RPM Compressors, Ping and Titleist.

Groves wished to thank his sponsors “for sticking by me through the ups and downs of 2016 and carrying on their support for 2017 and also welcoming new partners to the team which I am excited about.

“A massive thank you to Pete (Goldsmith) from M2 Sports Management because without him and the work he’s put into me in the short space of time we’ve been working together I wouldn’t be able to try and push on like I am. I’m very lucky to have a team around me like I do.”

Given his first year on tour didn’t run smoothly, what advice would Groves offer to talented amateur players thinking of joining the professional ranks?

“It’s not like amateur golf, “ he replied. “These boys will chew you up and spit you out. You need a mindset of you’re now a small fish in a big pond again. Keep yourself to yourself and don’t be talking about your amateur career, don’t be saying you’re this and you’re that because they are good, very good.

“I would say just practice hard and be ready because it’s mentally tougher off the course, like with the travelling, make sure you’ve got good backing – that’s a massive help through the year and it’s a lot less stressful – but it’s not the lifestyle you think it is starting off.

“It’s a hard grind but take your chances when they come and enjoy your chances when they come as well. And when it’s getting tough, grind it out. Make sure you’ve got the game to grind it out mentally and physically.”