Any Challenge Tour player looking for that extra bit of inspiration ahead of the Barclays Kenya Open could do a lot worse than listening to the words of Rob Dinwiddie, who won the €190,000 event at Muthaiga Golf Club 12 months ago.
The Englishman’s victory in Nairobi last year set him on the path to the ultimate reward from any Challenge Tour season: a European Tour card and a place in The Race to Dubai.
“It was a great tournament for me to win last year,” said Dinwiddie at the Sicilian Open. “Because it was early in the season it really set my year up on the Challenge Tour and enabled me to stay in the top ten on the Rankings for the rest of the year.
“That took a lot of pressure away from me and that obviously helps your game, your attitude towards playing and everything that goes with it.”
Dinwiddie’s victory in Kenya was the highlight of a great 2010 season, with the 28 year old racking up a further six top ten finishes en route to finishing the year in eighth place in the Rankings, comfortably securing a return to The European Tour.
“I had played well in Colombia last year, finishing fifth there before heading to Kenya so I knew I was playing well when I arrived at Muthaiga.
“It is a good golf course – there are a few different ways to play the course so it doesn’t suit any particular style of play. There is an option to bomb it everywhere and take your chance that way but I would say that I played the course quite conservatively throughout the week.
“Although, in saying that, my putt to win was anything but that – I had to hole a 50 foot putt on the last to avoid a play-off and managed to hole it.
“It was one of those putts that you have to say wasn’t going to be short! It was travelling when it hit the hole but you need a bit of luck to win any tournament and I was fortunate enough to get my break on the last hole.”
