Kingston set to make Mauritius return

The 51-year-old who won the 2007 South African Open Championship last played on the Sunshine Tour two years ago in Swaziland, although he was seen briefly in last year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge pro-am as he stood in for Miguel Angel Jimenez for nine holes until the Spaniard arrived at Sun City.

Kingston won 12 times on the Sunshine Tour, and he also took the 2009 Mercedes Benz Championship in Germany in 2009 on The European Tour. He memorably made a hole-in-one in the 2002 Dunhill Championship at Houghton Golf Club on the 206-metre 15th, pulling a four-iron left into the trees before the ball bounced out onto the green and into the hole.

“It’s been 16 months since I played a competitive round,” said Kingston, “so I’m a little uncertain as to what to expect. I haven’t had much time to practice properly, so I suppose I can’t really have any high expectations.”

Kingston has been involved in a business which breeds scarce game, and, with Pilanesberg Game Breeders’ third annual auction set for the week before the trip to the Indian Ocean paradise, he is understandably busy as the hard work all comes to a head.

“I’ve never been to Mauritius,” he said, “but I’ve heard so much about it and I’m really looking forward to seeing the place. I’ve also heard a lot about the course, so I hope my play can do it justice."

“Now that I have gone past 50, I am starting to take the first steps towards playing the seniors’ tour, so playing in this tournament is part of the process of preparation for that,” he added.

The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is in its second year, and is the only tournament sanctioned by the Sunshine, Asian, and European Tours.