RISING local golfers keen to keep the championship at home were met by equally ambitious visitors, clearly drawing the battle lines at the start of the Africa Open golf tournament.

The annual golfing spectacle teed off at the East London Golf Club yesterday and will run until 8 January. Now in its fifth year, the tournament promises to be a thriller this year, with local golfers taking centre stage – but the visitors have vowed to put up a fight.

A total of 156 competitors are participating in what has become a prominent tournament in the international golfing arena. At the start, South African Thomas Aiken set the standards high in his first competitive outing in 2012.

Aiken, a multiple Sunshine Tour winner, maximised his chances of a second European Tour victory when he snatched a one stroke lead. He finished one shot clear of South Africans Retief Goosen and Jaco Athlers, and three ahead of Welshman Phillip Price and another South African pair, Michael du Toit and Dean O’Riley.

The winner of the 2011 Spanish Open, 28-year-old Aiken had an impressive run that included three birdies from 16 to 18, another eagle at the par-five third and back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes.

South Africa may still produce more ammunition; at their disposal is a full arsenal of winners and up-and-coming youngsters. The Africa Open, worth €1-million (about R10,5-million), is on the European Tour and is part of the 2012 Race to Dubai.

In this arsenal are defending champions Louis Oosthuizen and Goosen, who won the tournament in 2009. The presence of 2011 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Garth Mulroy, former South African Open champion James Kingston, and Shaun Norris, who won the inaugural Open in 2008, will beef up the local side.

Despite the strength of their side, South Africans are hoping it does not crumble when the international competitors fire back – the European challengers cannot be taken for granted. The visitors declared themselves ready as ever and announced their ambitions to declare their 2012 Race to Dubai bid in East London.

Entrance is free for children and pensioners and adults will be charged R20. For more information, call the Africa Open media centre on 043 735 2793.