Jack Newton has no misapprehensions as to the seriousness of the annual golf event he lends his name to.

Entering its 34th edition starting on Tuesday at Cypress Lakes Resort, the Jack Newton Celebrity Golf Classic is as much about fun as it is about having a good time.

And that’s just the way Newton wants it.

“I’m pretty keen on trying to make this event a fun event rather than a serious golf tournament,” Newton told AAP.

“We see enough of that.”

To help lighten the mood, professionals are grouped with celebrities, amateurs and sponsors over two rounds on the resort course.

Newly-turned professional Jake Higginbottom – who won the New Zealand Open last month in his final event as an amateur – is part of the field, as are fellow Australian tour golfers such as Ewan Porter, Aaron Townsend, James Nitties and Nick Flanagan.

Higginbottom and Flanagan are two of the brightest products of the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation, which is one of the financial beneficiaries of the event along with Diabetes Australia.

But while the professionals will no doubt dominate the scoreboard during the two-day event, they will have to share the limelight with the impressive group of celebrities headlined by former prime minister Bob Hawke.

Newton admits it is getting harder each year to attract big-name golfers to the event, but says it does little to diminish from the festivities.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to get the top-shelf pros – we’ve had Payne Stewart, (Robert) Allenby, (Stuart) Appleby play in it,” Newton said.

“But after the PGA event in Coolum (last week), a lot of them have their own stuff to do.”