Every cloud has a silver lining. And getting her hands on silvery spoils of golfing combat is something Hannah McCook has been getting used to of late.

Back-to-back victories in both the Welsh Open Strokeplay and the Irish Open Strokeplay Championships have probably left the 24-year-old needing to re-arrange the odds and sods on her mantelpiece to get these triumphant trinkets showcased.

Success in this game doesn’t come easily and McCook knows that more than most. Having been diagnosed as a type-1 diabetic at the age of eight, the Grantown golfer has displayed a defiant, unwavering determination to succeed. Monitoring and managing her condition on a daily basis, meanwhile, has become, well, par for the course.

While most golfers work themselves into a footery fankle as they mull and dither over yardages and club selection, McCook has the added responsibility of keeping her body functioning.

“I do blood tests when I prick my finger every so many holes and that can average 14 times a day,” said McCook, who is aiming for a third major win of the season in this week’s Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship at Elie.

“I used to have to do injections but now I’m constantly attached to an insulin pump. It’s plugged into my body all the time. I press some little buttons on it and it gives me updates and info on what I need to do.

“The pump has made life a lot easier. I remember having to inject myself in a queue at Miami airport. That got a few looks from those around me.

“When I was first diagnosed, I thought I’d be unable to do anything and it was hard to accept. But my parents told me Sir Steve Redgrave was a diabetic. He’d won so many gold medals and that acted as a great inspiration. I need to meet him one of these days. I’d love to have a chat with him about it.

“Being a type-1 diabetic has not stopped me doing what I’m doing. There are plenty of people worse off than me. But it’s given me that drive to keep going. You want to show others that it shouldn’t hinder what you do. It’s been a good motivational tool for me.”

McCook is certainly not lacking in motivation this week. Buoyed by those breakthrough wins on the amateur circuit in Wales and Ireland, as well as a sturdy share of fourth place in the St Rule Trophy on Sunday, she heads for Fife in fine fettle.

Her conquests may have arrived too late to be rewarded with a place in the GB&I team for this weekend’s Curtis Cup match with the US in New York but McCook has plenty of other goals to aim for.

“I’d like to get in the Scotland team for the World Amateur Team Championships later this year and then try the qualifying school for the Ladies European Tour at end of season,” she said.

“Turning pro has always been my goal but more so now that I’ve got a couple of wins and have proved to myself I can win at this level.

“Until you win you’re never sure if you’d be able to handle it. A win at any level is a step up and you need to have those experiences before turning pro.”

Coached by Nairn Dunbar professional David Torrance, who nurtured PGA Tour winner Russell Knox in his formative years, McCook believes the benefits of the high performance opportunities now available to the girls through the amalgamated body of Scottish Golf are beginning to reap the rewards.

With Shannon McWilliam in that Curtis Cup team and a number of other Scots making purposeful assaults on leaderboards this season, the proof is in the pudding. “You would see the improvements in the results of the guys when they got away on warm weather training and now that we are getting that, it’s been huge,” said McCook, who was a semi-finalists in the Scottish Women’s Championship two years ago.

“You see it in our results too. When one of us does well, it spurs the rest of us on too. Long may it continue. Any player could win this week but hopefully I can be involved again.”

Given what she has achieved recently, you wouldn’t bet against her.