Chris de Bruin sailed through stage one of the European Seniors Tour qualifying school at Alto in southern Spain.
But the Tylney Park professional found the going much tougher in the final at Pinta, where rounds of 74, 78 and 80 put him out of contention for a top-eight slot on to next year's Seniors Tour.
The one-time Stoneham assistant professional, who celebrated his 50th birthday this year, made light work of his first taste of Tour School with rounds of 74 and 76 at Alto, which was good enough to give him 13th place among the 27 qualifiers.
But the pace set by the front-runners in the final stages was eye-opening with the leader 16 under after three rounds.
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