Wright is one of six state champions in the field of 130 who will play four rounds on the West Course at Cobram Barooga, William Bayliss (NSW), Daniel Gill (VIC), Joseph Hodgson (SA), Azer-Benjiman Pehlic (WA) and Aaron Mackay (TAS) also hoping to complete the state-national double.

The NSW/ACT PGA champion in 2023, Wright’s recent victory at Windaroo Lakes Golf Club paved the way for the Coolangatta Tweed Heads second-year associate to tee it up at the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club.

He made the cut there and believes those competitive reps will hold him in good stead at Cobram Barooga.

“I feel like we’ve played a fair few big events lately,” said Wright.

“Played Queensland Associates and then PGA Champs last week coming off a tough course, tough greens.

“I played nine holes here yesterday and it’s a little bit easier, but the greens are rolling really well.”

Cobram Barooga’s Old Course has received high praise from players who have played the Webex Players Series Murray River tournament in recent years.

Course Superintendent Terry Vogel and his team have been determined to make sure that the West Course can lay claim to similar plaudits.

“We have put a lot of work into the West Course,” said Vogel.

“Both courses now paly the same condition-wise. The greens are running at 12 on the Stimpmeter this week so they should provide a good test for the players.”

Wright has begun to adapt his game to the bent greens of Cobram Barooga from the grainy surfaces Queensland is known for, an adjustment he says is easy to make.

“It’s a much easier adjustment than playing on grain,” he added.

“Lucky to be from Queensland and be used to that, but coming down here it’s pretty much where you aim and hit it, it rolls straight there.

“It’s actually a lot easier.”

It took Levi Sclater three playoff holes to claim the 2023 National Championship in his first year of the Membership Pathway Program at Rossdale Golf Club in Melbourne.

Sclater returns seeking to go back-to-back with the strategy that proved to be so effective 12 months ago.

“I reckon I’m going to stick to a similar plan from last year,” said Sclater.

“It really worked and kind of suited the course. So I’ll probably just stick to that.

“I had a practise round yesterday and hit it around pretty nicely, so it should be a good week.”

Starting Tuesday from 7:30am, the PGA Associate National Championship is played over 72 holes and boasts $60,000 in total prize money.

Other players to watch this week include Bryce Pickin (NSW), Damon Stephenson (Qld), Zach Ion (Qld) and Joel Mitchell (Vic) while George van Vuuren (South Africa) and Alister Balcombe (GB&I) have been granted spots in the field as champions of their respective PGA’s.

Round 1 draw