Robert Dinwiddie is hoping that a return to the scene of his last victory will give his season the kick-start it needs as he prepares for the Barclays Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, where he was victorious in 2010.
Having played 30 times on The European Tour in 2010 but subsequently losing his card after finishing 141st in The Race to Dubai, Dinwiddie is back on the Challenge Tour, where he has an impressive record.
In the two full seasons he has played on the Challenge Tour, in 2007 and 2010, he has finished eighth in the Rankings both times, amassing three wins along the way.
While the 29 year old has not had the start he would have wanted this season, he is confident that he can return to form and is hoping to begin building momentum this week on a course where he has tasted victory, finishing three shots clear of Julio Zapata of Argentina two years ago.
“I definitely have great memories here,” said Dinwiddie. “It was a fantastic week for me two years ago. To come out here having lost my European Tour card and win an event early on in the season was great for the confidence and put me in a strong position to get my card back straight away.
“I like the course here. It’s playing a bit different this year. It’s firmer than it was in 2010. I remember we had a torrential downpour on the Wednesday and it softened the whole course so it’s different this time, although for the most part my game plan will be pretty similar. I have a lot of great memories to feed off and hopefully I can get out there and get stuck in to some good scores.”
Dinwiddie finished 40th in the Gujurat Kensville Challenge and missed the cut in the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Classic, and he puts his indifferent start to the year down to a long winter break.
“I think it’s just a case of getting into the year,” he said. “I had a bit of time off. I've been struggling a bit with certain areas of my game so I've been working on that too.
“I started off last year great but I just slowed down. It wasn’t in the plans to come back to the Challenge Tour but it is what it is and I’m going to focus mainly on it this year and I’m looking forward to when the season really kicks off.”
