Shropshire golfer Oliver Farr can't wait to start his European Tour adventure

Farr, from Ludlow, will kick off his fourth professional season, and his first ever at European golf's top table, with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

The 26-year-old, who plays out of Worcester Golf & Country Club, booked his place on the tour alongside some of golf's biggest names by securing a top 15 finish in the lower-ranked European Challenge Tour this year.

And he said: "I have just been preparing as I have done all year. There's no need to change a routine that I know works from my year on the Challenge Tour.

"So I have just been doing my short game practice at Worcester and playing as much as I can."

Farr has had little time to reflect on his achievements from the last campaign, which saw him secure a 10th place finish in the Challenge Tour order of merit after coming third at the Dubai Challenge Tour grand final at Al Badia in early November.

But he insists that after four weeks off he is refreshed and ready to take on the world's best, starting at Leopard Creek Golf Club in Malelane over the next four days.

He said: "I feel great coming into this event. The four weeks off have gone quickly but I couldn't wait to get started.

"It feels great to be out here. It is an awesome course, there is loads going on around the course and I'm on the range and in the locker room with guys I have watched on TV."

After two successive promotions in his last two years, Farr knows that immediate success at the top level is likely to be harder to come by.

But he is determined to extend his stay on the tour for another year by securing a top 110 finish in the order of merit for 2015.

He said: "I have a few goals for the season but my main one would be to be playing on the European Tour in 2016.

"I would also love to be playing in the Race to Dubai at the end of the season."