The eighth Carrus Open tees off this morning at the Tauranga Golf Club with a fine field headed by US-based Josh Geary.
The former Otumoetai and Mount Maunganui club member is the hot favourite and has history on his side. He has played the Charles Tour event twice for two wins in 2006 and 2008.
The 118 players include seven former Charles Tour winners in Geary, Fraser Wilkin, Troy Ropiha, Mark Purser, Doug Holloway, Nick Gillespie and Joshua Carmichael who are all chasing the lion's share of the $40,000 purse.
Former Japan Tour pro Richard Lee is another starter who is best known for shooting a 59 at Tauranga in 2010 to become the only Kiwi to have shot golf's magical number.
Another player to look out for is Jared Pender, who grew up playing on the Tauranga course. The powerful driving 30-year-old has been in a rich vein of form over the past 12 months and has spent the winter fine tuning his game on his home course.