With the European Challenge Tour season beginning with this week’s Barclays Kenya Open, it is inevitably difficult to predict who will have brought their best form to Nairobi’s Karen Country Club, but one likely contender might be Dylan Frittelli.
The South African has made a strong start to his 2016 campaign, with four finishes inside the top 20 on The European Tour, including a tie for second place at the Australian PGA Championship.
A top ten finish at the Holden NZ PGA Championship last week reaffirmed Frittelli’s form and the 25 year old is confident he can shake off any ill effects of his recent globetrotting to contend again in Kenya.
I'm certainly confident, and I'm comfortable here - I know the golf course well and I feel very at home
“I’m certainly confident coming here this week,” he said. “I can definitely pull on some great results so far this year on The European Tour and the Sunshine Tour and I was in New Zealand for the last couple of weeks for the PGA, and played well there too.
“I’m a little bit jetlagged coming into this week but I’m still feeling confident and ready to go, playing in all corners of the world wherever I can – I’d always wanted to play in New Zealand to expand my horizons a little bit and play in different conditions, so it was good.”
Frittelli knows what Challenge Tour success tastes like having won the Kӓrnten Golf Open in 2013, the same year he finished inside the top ten in Kenya.
With a revamped Karen Country Club presenting a similar test to his native South African courses, Frittelli hopes his experience and local knowledge can be of real benefit this week.
“I’m comfortable here in there conditions,” he said. “We’re about 5,500-6,000ft above sea-level which is the same as Johannesburg and the ball flies miles – that’s something the European boys will have to get used to this week and a lot of the guys have noticed it already.
“It takes a lot of calculation to get things right, but I’ve been coming here for four years now so I know the golf course really well, I know the surroundings and I’ve made a few friends so I feel very at home.
“I’ve had a couple of good results here in the past, made two cuts and missed one, but I enjoy this golf course. It’s a fun track to play, you’ve got to hit a few different shots and keep it in play, which is nice to see these days – most courses we play are long and tough and you’ve got to bomb the driver but this is a fun one.”
Inspiration, not just for Frittelli but for all players in the field, comes from his fellow Johannesburg native Haydn Porteous, who won here in 2015 before taking a maiden European Tour title at the Joburg Open earlier this year (see video above).
“Haydn’s really turned his game around,” said Frittelli. “He’s played really well, winning the Joburg Open and doing well in the Middle East, and this year he’s really put his foot on the gas.
“It would be great to follow in his footsteps this week but I’m not really setting myself too many big goals, hopefully just play well and see what happens come Sunday.”
A very strong field has assembled for the curtain-raiser on the 2016 Road to Oman, includingsix winners on the Challenge Tour from 2015, all of whom will be targeting further success to kick-start their 2016 campaigns.
Also in the field isreigning Amateur Champion Romain Langasque, three weeks before he tees off in Augusta at the Masters Championship in what will be his final event before turning professional.
Of a large local contingent, Dismas Indiza Anyonyi may again be the best hope for Kenyan success, the 47 year old having finished in the top 30 in three of the last four years and playing the tournament for the 17
th
time.
