Northern Irish teenager Tom McKibbin says he has no fear ahead of the first round of the Tayto Northern Ireland Open in partnership with Ulster Bank, despite being set to become the third youngest Challenge Tour player in history.
At 13 years and 222 days old, McKibbin, from Newtownabbey, is teeing it up with Irishmen Gavin Moynihan and David Rawluk for the first two rounds at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
He will be the third youngest player in Challenge Tour history behind Italian Matteo Manassero and Kazakhstan’s Daulet Tuleubayev.
“It’s going to be a great week and a good learning experience playing alongside all these other professionals who are trying to get to the European Tour,” said McKibbin.
“I want to have fun, try and play well and just learn from everyone else.
“Hopefully when I’m older I can play in events like these and have expectations.”
McKibbin, who won the World Under-12s Championship in 2015, received an invitation to this year’s Tayto Northern Ireland Open, something which, as a former spectator of the event, he admitted was completely out of the blue.
“It was a shock at first,” he said. “I didn’t expect anything like this until I turned 16 or 17 years old, but it’s just awesome. I’ve not been able to wait since I found out.
“I’m from Newtownabbey, which is about 25 minutes away from Galgorm. I’ve been here to watch the event for the last three or four years, so to play here is an awesome opportunity.
“The course is in great condition. It’s a bit soft, but the greens are unreal. I’ve played the course a bit more because it’s a bit longer than I’m used to – I haven’t practised too much because I didn’t want to burn myself out.”
