The Australasian Tour is back in Australia after the New Zealand Open last week.
We head to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales for the NSW PGA Championship which is being played at the Mount Broughton Golf and Country Club. 
The course was opened in 1994 and is consistently rated in the Top 100 courses in the country.
It is a Par 72, 6619 metre course with sweeping rye grasses, natural waterways, lush greens and undulating greens. There are 53 bunkers on the course and the greens are bentgrass.
The fairways are wide however the rough is thick and long. There are five Par 3’s, eight Par 4’s and five Par 5’s.
Players will need to be on their toes when it comes to the Par 3’s. They are all well bunkered and have several elevation changes which can catch you out.
Over the years there have been several big names who have won the NSW PGA Championship such as Brett Ogle, Peter Senior, Wayne Grady and Frank Nobilo.
The bookies Top 5 in betting this week are $8 Nick Cullen, $9 Jake Higginbottom, $11 Craig Hancock, $15 Ryan Fox and $15 Matthew Griffin.
Once again it looks like the favourites will be right up there this week as they are all in good form and playing with confidence.
Nick Cullen was ninth last week in the NZ Open. Prior to that he was sixth in the WA Open Championship.
Jake Higginbottom won the NZ Open last week as an amateur. Through in a tenth finish at the Australian Masters and you have a player whose name will be on everyone’s lips in the years to come.
Craig Hancock is ready to strike after a tenth place in the NZ Open and fourteenth in the Australian Masters.
Ryan Fox could be the next amateur to claim a victory. He has been a model of consistency in his last two events. Sixteenth in the NZ Open and fourteenth in the Australian Masters.
So who will be in the mix this week?
Daniel Nisbet $21.00 (www.sportsbet.com.au)
In 2009 Daniel received an 18 month ban from the game after bringing steroids through customs at Brisbane airport.
Since then he has put it all behind him and realised that golf is his passion and playing is what he wants to do as a career.
In July this year he won the US Players Amateur Championship at the Berkeley Hall Club in South Carolina.
From there he played in the First Qualifying Stage of Q School in October at the Lantana Golf Club in Texas.
Daniel won the event and finished at 24 under par. The second player finished at 12 under par. He won the event by 12 shots!!!
He returned to Australia where he played in his first event as a Pro.
It was the WA Open Championship where he finished T6th. Other notable players were Nick Cullen T6th, Daniel Fox T24th and Mark Brown T30th.
After a great start to his professional career it was back to the USA for the Second Qualifying stage of Q School. Unfortunately he finished T51st and did not make the final stage of qualification.
If Daniel can find the form that saw him play so well in the WA Open Championship and 1st Qualifying stage of Q school then he will be right up there in contention this week.
He has the game to shake it up this week. At 20/1 he is a great each way selection.
Tarquin Macmanus $41.00 (www.sportsbet.com.au)
Tarquin has been playing in the USA for the last few years at the University of Arizona.
While he was playing in the collegiate system he became Arizona’s first All-American player since 2006.
At the start of 2011 he was back inAustraliaand won the Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship by 3 shots from another upcoming star Ryan Fox.
Past winners of the event have included Jason Day and Brendan Jones.
Back in the USA he won the Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
While at Arizona, Tarquin received the Furyk Men’s Golf Scholarship.
In the early to middle part of the 2012 season he played on the Canadian Tour and made four cuts from his seven starts.
It was then back to Australia where he has played in three events to date. T11th in the WA PGA Championship, T36th at the WA Open Championship and T45th in the Australian Masters.
Tarquin is a young player on the up and this could be the week where he makes his mark.
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