Daniel Vancsik will be hoping a return to the Karen Country Club, the scene of his last European Challenge Tour victory, will spur him onto glory at the 2013 Barclays Kenya Open.
The Argentinian is the only man in this week’s field to have won at Karen Country Club, which hosts the €195,000 tournament after a four-year absence.
Vancsik won in spectacular style in 2005, when he carded a seven under par final round of 63 to take the title by three shots on a score of eight under par, having begun the final day three shots off the lead.
The 35 year old is hoping the memories of that final day will come flooding back this week as he bids to secure a return to The European Tour – where he has won twice – via the Challenge Tour.
“I have really good memories there,” he said. “I always have good feelings when I go there, and hopefully I can do well again. But you never know – golf is a funny game.
“I won with a really low final round but the winning score was only eight under, so it was a really good tournament for me.
“It’s a very good course. Your tee shots are very important on this course. When I won the rough was thick so you needed to stay on the fairway, and that was very important.
“There are many opportunities for birdie on this course, but there are also a few really tough holes. If you play really well and attack you will be left with 15 foot putts, and if you can hole some putts you will do well but it is also tough to get the ball close.
“If you’re struggling from the tee you will end up with a really big score. I don’t know about this year, but the year I won the rough was really thick so it will be interesting to see what it is like when we go back.”
Vancsik heads a strong field for this year’s tournament, including another European Tour winner in Welshman Rhys Davies.
Davies confirmed his status as one of the biggest prospects in European golf in 2010 when, following a stellar amateur career and just a year after a meteoric rise through the Challenge Tour ranks, he claimed a first European Tour victory at the Tropheé Hassan II.
The 27 year old subsequently finished 18th in The Race to Dubai Rankings that year and was handed a supporting role to The 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain, Colin Montgomerie, at The Celtic Manor Resort in his home country.
The Edinburgh-born man added another string to his bow in 2011, when he partnered Jamie Donaldson in representing Wales at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, before finishing 56th in that season’s The Race to Dubai.
José-Filipe Lima, Raymond Russell, Carl Suneson, and Matthew Zions are amongst the other former European Tour winners in the field in Nairobi.
