Starting at 7am and finishing by 6pm on both days, Barrett said there will a fantastic field of both central west and state-wide talent competing this weekend.

“We have a field of about 230, which is almost full,” he said.

“It’s the first time we’ve had the qualifier, which will be an invite to the NSW Open Golf Championships.

“NSW Golf have gone out to regional areas, giving the championship qualifiers to regional areas. If you win, it’s an automatic qualification to the main tournament.

“There’s about seven regional qualifiers throughout the state.

“There’s $400,000 on offer for the main golf tournament at Twin Creeks.”

Qualifiers will also be played in Forbes, Camden, Kew/Wauchope, Moree, Albury and Griffith. 

Bathurst’s qualifier will also act as the Bathurst Open tournament. 

Barrett said Canberra golfers Adam Forth and David Howard, with a handicap of one, will be some of the golfers to beat.

There will also be other high profile golfers – Mark Hale and Robert Payne – with handicaps of two.

“Some of these golfers have never been out here and played, so it’ll be interesting to see how they go,” Barrett said. 

“There’s a strong contingent coming from Sydney, Tamworth, Newcastle Canberra and from here in the Central West. We’ll have Rob Payne and James Conran coming from Orange to compete.

“We’d also love to see a Bathurst guy take it out. Phil Campbell, Darren Bruce and Ben Cummings are just some of the Bathurst A grade golfers competing.

“We’ve got the Bathurst B and C graders coming to play as well, which will bolster the event. With two days of golf to play, everyone will get a chance to win some vouchers, even if they don’t qualify for the championship.”

Three divisions will be held on the day – division one for handicaps of zero to nine, division two for handicaps of 10 to 18 and division three for handicaps of 19 to 36. 

Scratch and handicap first and second trophies will be handed out on both Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a total trophy prize of $4,610 given out.

Even though Bathurst has endured a lack of rain and a frosty winter, the golf course in currently to top condition.

“The green keepers have got it in a good condition. There’s been some rain forecast this week, which should softer things up,” Barrett said. 

He also said the event will be great for the Bathurst economy, with many people spending money and staying the weekend in the city. 

The qualifier is open to males golfers, with club handicaps.

Entries are still open and can be found at www.golfnsw.org and www.bathurstgolf.com.au.