Espen Kofstad is hoping to continue riding the wave of success when he heads home for this week’s Norwegian Challenge, which takes place at Byneset Golf Club in Trondheim.
The 24 year old has been in the form of his life of late, winning the Doubletree by Hilton Acaya Open, finishing third in the English Challenge and taking a share of fifth place in the Finnish Challenge in three consecutive weeks.
Those results have propelled him up to fifth in the Rankings, and the Oslo man is keen to maintain this superb form to achieve a “very special win” at a course where he has already tasted victory, having claimed the Norwegian Championship there in 2010.
“I’m just trying to enjoy every minute right now,” said Kofstad. “Now I know I can win, I have this new confidence and I’m loving it. I’ve turned a corner and I’m very relaxed. Golf is a game which has a lot of ups and downs, so I’m just trying to enjoy the ups as much as I can.
“To win in Norway on the Challenge Tour would be unbelievable. I know there will be a lot of people coming to watch, so to win in front of a lot of home support would be something very special.
“When I’m playing as well as this it’s going to be even better playing a tournament in my home country. I’ll get a day on Monday relaxing at home and then I’ll head to the course. It will be nice to speak Norwegian all week.
“I know the course pretty well. I won the Norwegian Championship there two years ago, so it holds good memories for me. The course just looks right. It’s hard to explain but it’s one of those places where I don’t seem to ever have any awkward shots. It suits my eye very well and you can drive a couple of greens, which I always enjoy doing.”
Being the man of the moment will bring new levels of attention this week, from spectators and the media, but Kofstad is confident he will take it all in his stride.
“I’m sure there will be a lot more attention on me this year because of the win a couple of weeks ago and my position in the Rankings,” he added. “I guess I’m the latest up and coming young player in Norway so there will be some interest.
“I haven’t quite prepared myself for that yet. I’ll just take it as it comes. I haven’t had much attention before, so it’s a new situation to be in, but I think it’s something I will enjoy.”
Other notable names in the field for the €175,000 event include Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie, Frenchman Gary Stal, who has won two Challenge Tour titles this season, and Austrian Florian Praegant, who lost out to Andrea Pavan in a play-off for the title at Hauger Golf Club last year.
