Last year’s Open de Espana Femenino runner-up Breanne Loucks has taken up an extreme sport in her quest for a maiden victory this year.

The 22-year-old, in her second season on the Ladies European Tour, has started mountain biking at Llandegla near her home in Wrexham, North Wales mostly because it’s fun, but she also says it strengthens up the wrists, which is excellent for golf.

“It’s extremely dangerous but it’s a great thrill; the thrill factor is unreal,” said Loucks, who took up the sport on her brother’s birthday in November.

“I actually came off in November and was lucky I landed in a grass bank because if you land in a tree you can really hurt yourself. I would never recommend it to any golfer but the thrill factor is amazing,” she said.

“You have to cycle up there which takes about an hour and it’s very steep. The first initial bit is big rocks which is bad on your wrists. I have to use wrist guards but in golf it’s good to have strong wrists for shaping the ball. If you’ve got strong wrists and something goes wrong in your subconscious and you need to correct it, you can. You can narrow your loose shots down. The suspension only takes a certain amount of those rocks and your wrists have got to take the rest of it.”

Canadian-born Loucks, who moved to North Wales at the age of one, has been working on her cardiovascular fitness in general, encouraged by her best friend on tour, Melissa Reid.

“I’ve been trying to work on my cardio work because I noticed last year I was getting tired and needed to recharge the batteries but have to keep going. I did a bit of training in Australia, which was good,” Loucks said.

“It refreshes you and makes you feel good. There is a saying that it triggers off the happy chemicals and it really does, as long as you don’t go ridiculous.

“Me and Mel, in Brisbane, went for a run on the beach in about a foot of water. You’ve got to keep your legs really high we went for half an hour doing sprints. It was blowing a hooly and absolutely peeing it down but 22 degrees in the sea so it was perfect.

“We were in trainers so they’re getting wetter and wetter and heavier and heavier the further you run. It was good though. I said I’m going to train up so that I can give you a run for your money because she’s really fit. We’ve got a challenge to see who can get the most ripped by the Nations Cup. We’re both really competitive so we know we will do the work to beat one another.”

Loucks has also been working on her weight distribution in her golf swing over the winter, at a brand new golf facility at Formby Hall Resort in England. She feels that this has helped to generate more power and an additional 10 yards on her average driving distance.

She explained that she and her coach Paul Williams were blown away by the experience.

“It’s got an awesome computer screen right in front of you directly on the floor so when you’re standing there you can see straight down as you’re looking at the ball you can see where your weight is. It shows you a graph and where you’ve got to put your step and where your weight is distributed,” she added.

After playing in the Lalla Meryem Cup this week in Morocco, Loucks will tee up alongside Becky Brewerton representing Wales at the European Nations Golf Cup.