Twelve months on from a flood-ravaged eastern seaboard that saw the tournament reduced to 54 holes, Cypress Lakes promises to present a far more genuine test when play begins from Thursday, the fourth and final event of the 2023 Webex Players Series and hosted by Jan Stephenson and Peter O’Malley.

Pike flew in on Tuesday morning from Thailand after playing two DP World Tour events and immediately began calling on the positive memories of his playoff win over New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori last year.

From the moment he turned off the freeway onto Freeman’s Drive, into Cessnock and through to Hunter Valley Wine Country, Pike was reminded of the good experiences both on and off the golf course 12 months ago.

“It sounds a bit bizarre but I was thinking, That’s where we had coffee that day, or That’s where we ate that night. Those kind of memories flood back real quick,” Pike revealed.

“Then when you drive into the resort you see the golf course and you remember the shots you hit, where you played, how it all eventuated.

“Every time I’ve gone back to a venue after I’ve won there it’s always brought back really good feelings and it’s no different this week.”

Memories will be important over the coming weeks as Pike seeks to rebuild a game that has suffered with a shoulder injury since the WA Open last April.

He battled through to record a fourth-place finish on home soil at the NT PGA a week later but has teed it up in just six events since, now in the process of rediscovering the form that made him one of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia’s most consistent performers.

Since his NT PGA win in October 2020, Pike has finished top-15 on 10 occasions at PGA Tour of Australasia events, reinforcing that the search for the old may be more fruitful than anything new.

“I was trying to change my swing to get rid of the pain and just ran into a whole bunch of problems,” Pike explained.

“Completely lost my way golf-wise. Pain-wise, the shoulder wasn’t getting better so I threw everything out and went back to the drawing board.

“Obviously I was doing a lot of the right things and when I spoke to Ewan (Porter, Fox Sports commentator) after I won here he brought something to my attention about how many top-10 performances I’d had in the past three to four years.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve gone back to the drawing board or that I’m trying to redraw something; it was just trying to find the old drawings.”

He may have found some of those drawings in Thailand last week.

The 37-year-old was heartened by a tie for 46th in the Thailand Classic and his prospects of producing further good showings on his home tour in the weeks to come.

“My caddie last week has caddied on the European Tour for 30-odd years and he pulled me aside after we were done and said, ‘From when I saw you the first day to when we finished on Sunday, I can’t believe how much you’ve got back into the swing of things. Give it a few more events and I’d expect you to be contending again’,” Pike added.

“My internal feeling was very much the same thing. I can start to feel everything coming back and starting to fall in line.

“Hopefully I can do it faster than what he presumes. Hopefully coming back to a venue like this helps speed things up.”

The final two rounds of TPS Hunter Valley will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports and entry to spectators is free all four days.

On Saturday, TPS Hunter Valley will feature a Family Day with a range of kids activities and golf clinics available for the little ones as well as a Hunter Valley Showcase featuring some of the best produce from the region and an All Abilities golf clinic.