Joost Luiten drew on some fond memories of his very first Challenge Tour appearance at Karen Country Club, as the Dutchman moved into a share of the first round lead in the opening round of the Kenya Savannah Classic supported by Absa.
The six-time European Tour winner has enjoyed a long and successful career thus far – peaking at 28th in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2014 – and owes it all to an incredible introduction to professional touring golf.
Luiten earned a top ten in his maiden appearance on the Challenge Tour, following that up with a top three finish and then a victory. No wonder then, that he has been enjoying his return, even if he did slip under the radar this week following a tied 41st place finish at last week’s Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker.
“Seven under is a really good score around here,” he said. “No bogeys on the card is always a good thing and seven birdies. I had a couple more chances but I’m very happy with seven under and it’s a good position for the rest of the week.
“I got an invite to play here 15 years ago on the Challenge Tour, from Daan Slooter who had a Challenge Tour event in the Netherlands so he had some invites and he gave me one. It was my first year as a pro and I finished tenth that week. That’s all that I can remember, I made a birdie down the last to finish tenth and that got me into the next tournament.
“I finished third in the next one and that got me into the next tournament and I won that one! For me, it was a perfect start to my Challenge Tour career. I got my chance with a wildcard invite and I took it. I have really good memories of this place.
“I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week. Hopefully I can just hit the ball as I did today and stay out of trouble and make sure to hole some putts and that’s always a good thing if you do that in golf.”
