Martina Gillen/Tour Diary:I suppose one of the qualities that the life of a professional sportsperson teaches you, especially for rookies, is that patience is required and not just on the golf course. Last week was another disappointment, another missed cut but there were one or two mitigating circumstances.

I should say straight away that I wasn't happy with my game. Whereas the first week I struggled with my putting in Tenerife, this time my driving and iron play weren't up to scratch. We were playing at Sergio Garcia's home course and I fully understand now why he is such a great shot maker.

It's a sylvan setting with the trees very close to the edge of fairways. You don't have to spray the ball much to find yourself stymied and forced to chip out sideways or else have to take a crash course in cutting or drawing the ball.

We spent all of last Monday travelling and when I finally got to Valencia, I found that my clubs hadn't arrived, a fate I shared with five other girls.

We were assured that they would be in on a later flight but that information proved to be incorrect.

Instead they arrived mid-morning on the Tuesday and that in itself provided another new set of problems.

We couldn't get out until 3pm and then to compound matters it ended up being a five hour 40 minute round, the longest I've ever endured.

As rookies we don't play in the pro-am so spent most of the Wednesday on the range. We tried to go out and walk the course but gave up after nine holes because we found ourselves getting in the way of players. That was also the day that many of the girls contracted a stomach bug, including Claire Coughlan. Eight players dropped out of the tournament but many more were affected.

I was first out at 8am on the Thursday and by the turn had slipped to three over par. I probably hit enough greens but just not close enough to give myself chances. Making mistakes meant that I eventually signed for a 75 and knew that the following day the cut would probably be at one over.

When I ran up bogeys at the first two holes on the Friday, I was in essence having to chase a score. It's far from ideal with a game that's slightly off. Trying to make the cut is a completely different mindset and despite a brief rally, I shot 76.

Claire, who didn't eat anything for three days, did extremely well to make the weekend but Saturday really killed any chance of a high finish. I spent that day on the range, working on my game, a game plan I was set to follow until a chance encounter with a German girl, Bettina, whom I had played against in my amateur days.

If you are in the final six groups on the Sunday, you must have a caddie, so that was my new vocation for the day. Bettina managed to shoot level par but for me the silver lining was being able to study at first hand, the way the better players compile their scores.

It's another lesson at a time when I'm trying to settle into my new life. I have got to know some of the other rookies and we have swapped stories about life on the tour.

When you are an amateur everything is done for you, whereas now, you are solely responsible for yourself on and off the course. Many of the girls have agents, who take care of their travel arrangements, but you learn to become self-sufficient quite quickly.

I am only fourth reserve for the tournament in Switzerland this week but given the virus I'm going to travel to the venue. If I don't make it, then I'll spend the week working on my game and using the practice facilities.