NICK Dougherty has turned down a gilt-edged invitation to play in this week's Lancôme Trophy in Paris, one of the most prestigious events on the European Tour.

Instead, the 19-year-old Chorley-based rookie professional will be pegging up with 120 other hopefulls at Cheshire's Carden Park trying to win their cards for next season.

''I've no choice,'' said Dougherty. ''If I'd played in the Lancôme I would have had to have won enough money to guarantee my place on the tour and that's a tall order at this stage in my career.''

He must compete in four rounds at Carden in the European Tour School stage one qualifier and finish well up the leaderboard to earn a place at the next session in Spain in November ahead of the finals in the same country later that month.

Nothing is guaranteed even if he wins at Carden - Macclesfield's Jamie Donaldson shot the lights out last year in his first outing as a pro then flunked the second part of the test before eventually gaining his card this summer via the Challenge Tour.

That's a route open to Dougherty and the rest this week but he'd rather not take it.

He's already tasted life on the main circuit, making four cuts out of seven starts as an amateur and two out of three after joining the paid ranks last month after helping Great Britain and Ireland retain the Walker Cup in the United States.

''If I play solid golf at Carden I should get through. You don't have to be a world beater to get through Tour school but it's a funny old game and anything can happen,'' he said.

''In any case, I still have the German Masters and Dunhill Links Championship next month and if I win enough money then I'll go straight to Tour School.

Dougherty, tipped as a natural successor to his coach Nick Faldo, knows that invitations - negotiated by his manager Mark McCormack - to the big events will probably be scarce next year so he'll have to get into them on merit.

''I'll just have to be patient. I won't try to force it because then I'll be putting myself under too much pressure,'' he added.