Andrew George is hoping past experiences of competing against Greg Norman and Sky pundit Wayne 'Radar' Riley will stand him in good stead for the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship qualifier at Hadley Wood on Monday, April 21.
The 44-year-old pro is one of around 60 hopefuls from across the south and east of England battling it out at the Hertfordshire course for a place in July's £78,000 grand final at Moortown.
And having failed to qualify for the last three years, the Cambridgeshire golfer has pulled out all the stops to ensure he makes it including playing a practice round at the Alister MacKenzie-designed course.
But the Ely City Golf Club head pro knows that it's his experience of qualifying from five years on the Australian Tour with the likes of Norman and Riley that could prove pivotal.
"Qualifying is a real art. On the Australian Tour they had Monday qualifying and you needed to know when to go for it and when to back off but it takes real discipline to be able to do that," he said.
"I haven't qualified for three years so I'm desperate to get in, it's such a fantastic event."
George, who played in the '94 and '03 Opens and has played in four BMW PGA Championships, has a good pedigree in the Glenmuir event including a top five finish at Royal St David's 10 years ago which earned him a place in the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team.
Other leading players expected to mount a challenge in the qualifier are 29-year-old Welshman, Andrew Pestell, based at Chelmsford, Darren Charlton (Dunstable Downs), former PGA Assistants' champion Darren Parker (Maylands) and Peter Cherry at Ashridge in Herts.
Cherry has a good record in the qualifiers with three wins and the 2003 East Region Order of Merit champion has been taking a leaf out of Tiger Woods by honing his mental sharpness and short game skills.
"It's all about the short game and your mental attitude and if you get that right you're there," he said.
"I've been putting in a lot of work on chipping and putting and am much better this year mentally."
With a 65 under his belt during a recent outing at East Herts, Cherry is hitting form at just the right time.
Hadley Wood is the first of eight regional venues throughout Britain and Ireland which will see more than 650 pros fighting for 156 spots in the 72 hole final at Moortown on July 29 - August 1.
The championship winner will receive £10,000 and the use of a top-of-the-range Peugeot car for a year for the winner, but also a five-year exemption from Glenmuir qualifying, a place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, exemption from regional qualifying for The Open, and a place on the PGA Europro Tour.