The 2016 Road to Oman Rankings leader, Sebastian Soderberg, believes the familiar surroundings of Gloria Golf Club can inspire him in his bid to secure his second European Challenge Tour title of the season in the Turkish Airlines Challenge.
Soderberg, who claimed victory in the Barclays Kenya Open in March, finished in the top 15 in last week’s Challenge de Madrid, with difficult weather conditions over the weekend ultimately taking him out of contention for the title.
Returning to the picturesque surroundings of Gloria Golf Club in Belek, where the 25 year old took part in the 2015 Turkish Airlines Challenge, Soderberg thinks everything is in place for an excellent tournament.
“I feel good and I love this place,” he said. “I haven’t played on the New Course, but the course that we played on here last year is awesome. I’m sure this course will be as good and that it will be a good tournament.
“The whole setup and everything around here is great – we’ve got everything we need and that makes things easier.”
After securing a maiden Challenge Tour title in the first event of the 2016 season in Nairobi, Soderberg has remained top of the Road to Oman Rankings since.
Although disappointed not to finish higher in last week’s Challenge de Madrid, the Swede believes his game is in good shape for this week’s tournament.
“It feels good to have such a good start to the year,” he said. “I felt as though my game was clicking and everything was going my way - it was awesome to get that win.
“Spain was a good tournament overall. I struggled with the winds on the third day and unfortunately shot myself out of contention.
“Particularly on that course, if any of your shots go off, they really go off. You have to be on your game on that day and your short game then becomes really important. I found myself in situations where I had to try really hard to save par, but unfortunately I was unable to do so.”
Another player in the field who has fond memories of Gloria Golf Club is Sihwan Kim, who set a course record when he shot a nine under par 63 on the Old Course in last year’s edition of the tournament.
“I didn’t know I shot a course record,” said the 27 year old. “But I did play well here last year. We’re on a different course this time so I’ve just got to go out there and play well.
“I need to hit it straight off the tee and give myself a good chance of getting the green and making some putts.
“There are five par fives out on this course, I think the scores will be fairly low but you can’t predict these things.”
Having recorded four top-three finishes during his Challenge Tour career, Kim wants to go one better in 2016 and secure his European Tour card by finishing in the top 15 of the Road to Oman rankings.
“We took a bit of time off during the winter so I’m trying to get back into the groove,” he said. “I want to get into that top 15 and I want to win my first event. I’ve had a few top two finishes so I want to go that step further.”
