Coetzee feels at home at Tshwane Open
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George Coetzee is hoping to take full advantage of home course knowledge in this week’s Tshwane Open which started today.
The South African’s s first golfing win came at Pretoria Country Club as a child…and now hopes to add a European Tour title at the same venue.
He said: “To come to my home course is a great honour and for the club to host it is great. It’s unbelievable for me. As a kid I played this course and imagined it being a British Open, but now there is no imagination – it’s the Tshwane Open.
“There is a lot of risk and reward and on a lot of holes you can take it on. There are some advantages to knowing the course as well as I do, but it suits a certain type of golfer. Hopefully I make enough putts to make up for that.
“It’s nice to stay at home. I think I get to stay at home for more events than most Europeans – this one, the SA Open and the Joburg Open. It’s nice to go home and sleep in my own bed and to know the golf course as well as I do; hopefully it will play into my favour this week.”
But the local hero faces stiff opposition including from last year’s winner Ross Fisher (pictured) although the Englishman won’t be defending his title at the same course where he won 12 months ago.
Fisher is in good form and will again fancy his chances: he’s sitting third in this year’s Race to Dubai, and has featured in the top 25 in six of his last eight starts, including two runner-up finishes.
