SHE may be only 14-years-old but a Droitwich Spa girl has set her sights firmly on becoming a professional golfer.

Amanda Purcell, of Bromsgrove Road, has taken just 22 months to reduce her golfing handicap from 54 to 17 and by the end of this year hopes to have cut that to 12.

She said: "I would like to be a pro and to do that I have to get my handicap down to our before I can start the PGA (Professional Golfers' Association) training."

That gives Amanda, who turns 15 next month, three years to reach her target and that means dedication and hard work.

A pupil at King's School, Worcester, Amanda plays at least three times a week at Gaudet Luce Golf Club, in Hadzor.

She is also trained once a fortnight by resident professional Adam Whiting.

Amanda first discovered her passion for the sport when her mother Jenny, who works at the club, took her along to work.

From there, she got involved in Sunday morning training sessions and in August 2000 received a handicap of 54.

"I have always liked to be different in sport," Amanda said. "There are not many people at school who play a lot of golf, so I thought I would try it and see what I got out of it."

Her skill has now developed to such a degree that in half term from school this month, Amanda reduced her handicap from 22 to 17 by playing every day.

During that week she played 36 holes in finishing second in the Worcestershire Junior Girls' County Championship, held at Droitwich Golf Club.

And over the jubilee weekend she won the Millennium International Mixed Pairs Classic with Terry Hartley but missed out on the next round in Ireland because she was under 18.

I think that's probably why we won," Amanda said. "We were more relaxed knowing we had nothing to lose. We just went out for the fun."

But Amanda's love for sport does not stop at golf as she has represented her school at hockey, tennis and rounders

In addition, she has also played Tennis representing Droitwich Spa.

She added: "I have played tennis ever since I was four and played for Droitwich. But the golf got better and became the main priority."