Sluiter has sights set on Dubai
2014-10-22 22:14:47

Fresh from his best finish on the European Challenge Tour in almost two years, Tim Sluiter has arrived at the Foshan Open this week in confident mood, as he looks to continue his ascent up the Rankings and secure a place at this season’s Middle Eastern climax.

His closing 67 last week in Chongqing – which was bogey free, no less – saw the Dutchman finish in a tie for third, a result that propelled him to 47th on the Rankings, and just two places from qualifying for the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club in a fortnight’s time.

It was a welcome result for the Dutchman, especially considering he was not even sure of his place in the field until a last minute invite, a turn of events that could still define his season.

However, Sluiter is just glad to have made a step in the right direction after a disappointing couple of campaigns on the second tier, and he will tee it up this week looking to continue that form in a push for Dubai.

“I’m definitely feeling good ahead of this week,” said the 25 year old from Enschede, in his native Holland. “I played well last week, and didn’t make a bogey in the last round, which is always nice. It has probably been a couple of years since I have done that.

“My form is getting back though the last few months, and I’m starting to play better and get some better results, and finally I have had a top three to make some money as well.

“I have had a couple of practice rounds here this week and not played great, but obviously I feel confident and comfortable. It is a great course again, a great set-up and the tournament is great too, so what’s not to like.

“I got lucky to get an invite last week to just get in and play, and made use of that to get into here as well, so it is a bit lucky, but a good time to be playing well. The goal is to get to Dubai, as I wasn’t in any of these events to start off, so I wanted to make sure I got into the top 70 for a good category next year, and then play well at Q-School. After last week though, a couple more of those performances and who knows what will happen.”

By his own admission, Sluiter has not performed as he would have liked in recent years, and the start of this season saw him make some changes in an effort to improve.

Looking back now those alterations certainly showed – but perhaps not in the way he would have liked – as he missed eight of his first nine cuts, with a solitary tie for 54th in Turkey a sole bright spot in his early 2014 resumé.

He has since turned that around though, and has in fact played the weekend in nine of his last 12 outings, recording five top 20 finishes in addition to his podium of last week.

Reason to be cheerful then for the Dutchman, who also registered a tie for tenth on The European Tour at the D+D REAL Czech Masters during that run, as he looks to finish the season strong at an event he believes to be one of the best on the circuit.

“I changed a lot last year, and did a lot of new things with my coach, and it takes time to adjust,” said Sluiter. “I’m still not even close to where I want to be, but I have been working really hard since January, and the scores the last few months are really getting better.

"The last few years haven’t been great for me, so I knew I needed to change some things, so I did. It takes time, but hopefully it comes just in time to do some good things at the end of this season.

“This course is really fair, and you really need to play well to score well, so whoever plays the best will win, which is always a good thing. It is not a putting competition here, the greens are tough for the Europeans with a bit of grain, which makes them difficult to read, but we’ll get out there and see what happens.

“When you are coming up the ninth and 18th it almost feels like a European Tour event, it is a lot different. When you come into the property you see it is a great set-up, and this is probably the best run Challenge Tour event of the year. There are so many volunteers, it is incredible.

“It will be good to see where I am at the end of this week though, and I’m excited to get going.”