THE 2014 Better Homes Pro Am has attracted a record but high quality field led by legend Craig Parry.
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Parry is a three times winner of the Australian Masters, but it is his 2007 win in the Australian Open that he cherishes most.
He has performed creditably throughout the world and he has a couple of wins on the US PGA tour.
But the quality of the field doesn't end with Parry.
Terry Price is a blast from the past and this veteran, who has played regularly in Europe and Asia, has won seven times on the tour.
Another seasoned professional who has been in good recent form is Anthony Summers.
He recently won the Queensland PGA championship and a couple of weeks ago he took out the Pro Am at Wagga Wagga.
Leigh McKechnie has won the Better Homes Pro Am twice and if he can win this year he will tie Ed Stedman, who has won it three times, as the most prolific winner.
McKechnie loves the Port Macquarie track and he always finishes near the top of the leaderboard when here. His wins were in 2008 and 2012.
Some of the regulars who have performed creditably here in the past include Grant Thomas, who was recently the runner up at Wagga, Callan O'Reilly, Neil Sarkies and Neven Basic.
Josh Main and Port Macquarie Golf Club's trainee professional Will Gunn are both former junior champions of the Port club.
Main, at one stage, held the course record at 66.
Aaron Glasson is another former Port junior who is competing and former Wauchope golfer David Bransdon is one of several in the field to have won the Port Macquarie Junior Seaside Classic.
Bransdon is up near the top of the Order of Merit and last year won the Lexus Heritage Classic and in 2012 was the runner up in the Victorian Open.
The current course record stands at 63 and was set by Paul Marantz in the 2001 Pro-am and equaled by Nathan Goodchild in winning the 2002 Seaside Classic.
The Port Macquarie Golf Club Better Homes Pro Am has prize money of $20,000 and is part of the Choice Hotels PGA Pro Am Series which covers all of the NSW pro ams. The amateurs will play a team event with their professionals as well as an individual event.
They will play for trophies worth about $3,500.
Kyle Flynn is the defending amateur champion after he won last year with rounds of 73 and 71.
His main challenges will come from John Hutchison, Wayne Stewart, Stefan Walker, Dave Bagust, Matt Hayes and the talented teenagers Jackson Jubelin and Rowan Cooper.
The best of the females is 14-year-old Lily Baker who plays off a three handicap.
The Port Macquarie Golf Course is a challenging layout where the wind has a strong influence on scoring and the course is in excellent condition.
Spectators are most welcome and will get the opportunity to view some excellent golf.
A seeded draw will be used on Wednesday, but on Tuesday most of the main chances will tee off between 10.12am and 11.50am with Parry hitting off at 11.48am.