Denison eager to get underway after stepping up to the top level

Danny Denison ventures into the great unknown of a European Tour season today happy to let his form dictate where and how often he plays.

The 26-year-old Challenge Tour graduate from Leeds tees off alongside major champions and Tour stalwarts in the circuit’s 2012 curtain raiser, the Africa Open.

He is no stranger to the top tier of European golf having played a sprinkling of events in the past, but after finishing sixth on last year’s supplementary Tour, he is a finally a fully-fledged member of the continent’s top division.

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“I know what it’s like playing these events, but the thought of a full year out there – well, I just can’t wait to get going,” he said of a season when he expects to play at least 25 times on Tour.

Following the Africa Open in South Africa, where he will pit his wits against former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, he will head to the Joburg Open.

Then, after a week off while last year’s tournament winners play at Fancourt Links, Denison hopes to feature in the three-tournament gulf swing.

“I’m not really sure what I’m going to play in the Middle East,” said Denison of the lucrative stretch which is headlined by the star-studded Abu Dhabi Championship at the end of January.

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“Hopefully I’ll get an invite into one of them, but the season for me will really get going in April.

“I’ll try to put a plan together for the year, but in the past I’ve learned that you can’t always put a plan together.

“I’ve had a quick look at the schedules of the debutants from last year and they averaged between 25 and 33 tournaments, which is a fair amount. But it all depends on the first half of the season. If you don’t know where you’re sat in the rankings come July then you might have to change things about a bit.”

Denison’s first-year target is to finish inside the top 115 to retain his playing privileges for 2013.

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He has a wealth of experience to tap into at his management team, International Sports management (ISM), the company owned by Chubby Chandler which has Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke on its books.

Sheffield’s Danny Willett and Hull’s Richard Finch are in action at the East Africa Golf Club, as is South Africa-based, Sheffield-born Neil Cheetham and Harrogate’s John Parry, whose reduced status gets him into 15 events.

Paul Bradshaw, club pro at Boothferry near Goole, is also in the field as a regional order of merit winner.

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