Austrian Florian Praegant is hoping to drive home his local advantage at this week’s Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda on the Challenge Tour.
Born and raised in Klagenfurt, Praegant learned to play the game at Golf Club Klagenfurt-Seltenheim, which has hosted the €160,000 event since its inception in 2009 when Germany’s Christoph Günther took the title after closing with a round of 62.
Like the tournament itself Praegant is now also sponsored by Mazda, who for the second successive season gave away a brand new car last year to home hero Martin Wiegele when he aced the eighth hole – as he had in 2009 – en route to winning the event by one stroke from a trio of challengers.
Two weeks later Wiegele also won the dual ranking SAINT-OMER Open presented by Neuflize OBC to earn instant promotion to The European Tour, and Pragaent is hoping this week’s event will provide him with a similar springboard to success.
He said: “I only live five minutes from the course, so it’ll be nice to stay at home and I’m sure some friends and family will come along to support me. I’m looking forward to the week, and the course is in good shape.
“There’s a lot of water – I think it comes into play on pretty much every hole – but the rough isn’t up too much because we’ve hardly had any rain. So there will probably be some low scoring, especially if the weather’s good.
“Martin showed what could be done when he shot a 62 on the first day last year. It would be great to keep the trophy in Austrian hands, especially as I’m now sponsored by Mazda, who also sponsor the event. They gave me a Mazda to drive, so hopefully I can have a hole in one and keep a spare in the garage!
“I’ve struggled a little bit with my game recently, after starting the season so well in India. But I’ve been practising hard and I’m starting to strike the ball much better now, so hopefully I can have a good week and start climbing the Rankings.”
Praegant’s compatriots Thomas Feyrsinger and Roland Steiner will have high hopes of emulating Wiegele’s success, having finished tied 14th and joint fifth respectively behind the champion at Golf Club Klagenfurt-Seltenheim 12 months ago.
Andrew Tampion also travels to Austria with confidence restored after the Australian collected his second Challenge Tout title at last week’s Telenet Trophy.
The 26 year old, who came close to quitting the game after a wretched run of results on The European Tour last term, is bidding to become the first multiple winner of the 2011 season.
Other notable names in the field include South African Michiel Bothma, Argentina’s Joaquin Estévez and Germany’s Nicolas Meitinger, all of whom will be striving to become the first multiple winner on this year’s Challenge Tour following their respective victories in Kenya, Colombia and France earlier in the season.
