Tim Hart is looking forward to this week’s Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship presented by Wippells Autos despite a tough result at the same venue last year.

The big hitting Queenslander had one hand on the trophy at City Golf Club in 2016 after setting the back nine on fire in the final round.

After shooting three birdies in his first nine holes, Hart started the run home in spectacular fashion going eagle, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, birdie to be 12-under the card for the round and on track for not only the magical 59 score but his first win on the ISPS HAND PGA Tour of Australasia before coming to the 18^th hole.

Hart had been flushing it with the driver all day and saw no reason to not bring it out for his final tee shot, the drive went awry and he eventually triple bogeyed to still hand in an impressive score of 61, a new course record, and secure a playoff spot against eventual winner David Klein.

The 27-year-old is not deterred by coming so close last year and is looking forward to playing a course he enjoys.

“Yeah it is a little bit bittersweet but it’s a new year and it’s good to come back to a place I’m familiar with, hopefully I can go one better,” Hart said.

“I probably won’t be thinking about it too much, the more and more you get in to these positions, the better you get at it.

“I won’t be too concerned; I’m just focused on getting the job done.”

Hart said he’d have no qualms bringing the driver out of the bag this week and feels the City Golf Club course will play to his long hitting strength.

“This is about the fourth or fifth year I’ve played here now so, like I said, it’s very familiar to me and it’s my sort of course, I really enjoy it out here.

“It’s very accessible for longer hitters like myself so it’s good to let the driver go all week. If you’re hitting it straight you can get up near the greens and take advantage quite easily.”

The Gold Coast local said the opportunity to record his maiden victory in his home state is extra incentive to play well this week.

“Absolutely, there’d be nothing better than getting my first win on this tour in my home event; I’m definitely looking to do that here this week,” Hart added.

Despite missing the cut in last week’s ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open, Hart is happy with his play so far this season and is confident of giving the title another shake this year.

“I played okay in the New Zealand PGA but I missed the cut in the New Zealand Open last week, I still played okay but I didn’t score as well as I would’ve liked.

“I’ve been playing pretty good so hopefully I can continue that. The game is there so I’m pretty confident this week.”

The Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship presented by Wippells Autos will be played from 16-19 March at City Golf Club in Toowoomba with a field of 120 players vying for a prize purse of AU$125,000.

The winner will receive Official World Golf Ranking Points and become fully exempt on to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of this season plus a further season.