Philip Golding is hoping his strong record at Constance Belle Mare Plage can inspire him to a maiden European Senior Tour title at this week’s MCB Tour Championship.
The Englishman won the former Mauritius Open in 1996 and has been a regular visitor to the island ever since.
After an impressive start to his Senior Tour career, with consecutive runners-up finishes in the SSE Scottish Senior Open and the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open, Golding is hoping to make his breakthrough at a place he has a close affinity with.
“As professionals it is always nice to go back to somewhere you have played well and you do look back on positives,” he said. “I know this course well obviously and I’ve never finished outside the top ten when I have played here.
“It is a fantastic set up and organisation here and it is somewhere I always enjoy coming back to. You can’t fault it – it is a very good way to end the year.
“It’s a good course too. It’s not very long but there can be a bit of wind and it really makes you think off the tee. And the greens are tricky, so it’s not straight forward.
“I’ve only played six events this year after turning 50 but I’ve enjoyed competing again and it would be nice to be up there again on the last day of the season.
“One of my goals is to win on the Senior Tour and there would be no better way to do that and to finish my first season than by winning the MCB Tour Championship.”
In addition to targeting his maiden Senior Tour title, Golding also has his eyes on improving his Order of Merit position.
The 2003 French Open winner is currently in 17thposition and needs to ensure he is in the top 18 on the final rankings to earn a place in the 2013 US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid.
“I’d like to break into the top ten on the Order of Merit this week, but first of all I need to make sure I get into the US Senior PGA Championship,” he said. “That is definitely an aim of mine this week but I try not to set goals too much and just take each shot at a time.
“It’s a very strong field this week. You have Tom Lehman, the defending champion, and Roger Chapman, a two-time Major Champion this year, and Mark Mouland, who has just won his Champions Tour card, so there is plenty of competition out here.”
