Golf: Fox racks up the flying miles as he makes solid start in Mauritius

Ryan Fox tees off during the Open de Espana at Real Club Valderrama. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox hit a one over par 73 in his opening round at the Mauritius Open.

Having made stops in Morocco and China recently, the tiny Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is the latest place that has bumped up his frequent flyer miles.

Fox says he has enjoyed a mixed few weeks playing on the second tier European Challenge Tour.

"Two tough weeks in Morocco and China," Fox tells herald.co.nz. "There were patches of good golf in both weeks but I struggled to score and had patches of very poor golf thrown in too.

"It was nice at least to make the cuts when I was struggling a little.

While the golf was a little up and down and the travel significant, one upside is that the 26-year-old has been able to take in a little bit of sight-seeing during his travels.

"I got to see the Great Wall while in Beijing which was super impressive and Morocco was quite an interesting place. Unfortunately I caught a bit of a bug in Morocco which caught out quite a few guys."

Once the stop-over for planes flying from Australia to South Africa, Mauritius is a nice spot according to Fox.

"Mauritius is a very cool place and its the first time I've been here. We are staying in a villa about 15min from the golf course, right on the beach. There are lots of good local restaurants and nice beaches. It is very similar to the Pacific Islands that most Kiwis are familiar with.

"The golf course is really good. It was designed by Ernie Els and its long with some tricky greens. It's quite generous off the tee but it has been very windy the last few days so scoring has been difficult. There are a lot of OB pegs and hazards which normally wouldn't come into play but with the strong winds it makes some of the tee shots very difficult."