South Africa’s James Kingston is aiming for a flying start when the 2017 European Senior Tour starts in March, with European Tour appearances planned in the build-up to the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters.
The 51 year old, who finished 12th on the Senior Tour Order of Merit during his rookie year, made the cut at a European Tour event for the first time since 2014 as he finished tied 26th at the first event of 2017 – the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni.
After taking a break from the game, the two-time European Tour winner made a return to professional golf last year, making his debut at the SSE Enterprise Wales Senior Open. He would finish 12th or higher in seven of 11 starts last season.
“Even though you’ve been on Tour for a long time, you do have to get used to it again after an 18 month break,” said Kingston. “I played a lot of new courses last year, but I know what to expect going back to some of them and I’ll be a little more prepared.
“Being on the Senior Tour is a great opportunity and I think we’ve been competitive all our lives. To be honest, I stopped playing because I was a little fed up with the game and I should have taken a break earlier in my career.
“The 18 month break did me good, but I struggled to get back to where I wanted to be. I’m hoping to play at the Joburg and Tshwane Opens on the European Tour and then it’s on to Sharjah in March for the first event of the Senior Tour season.”
With a number of events already confirmed for the 2017 season, Kingston is looking forward to participating in the new additions to the Senior Tour schedule, including the European Tour Properties Senior Classic, which will be held at Linna Golf in Finland.
“We’ve got two new tournaments already on the schedule, and hopefully we’ll have a couple more so things are looking good for this year,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl. I’ve heard it’s a tough course, but a good course, and I really enjoy tests like that.
“We played some beautiful courses last year. For me, Le Golf National was up there with the best, it is a really top golf course. I wish them all the best for the Ryder Cup next year because it will probably be one of the best courses ever for that competition.”
