A Melbourne Sandbelt feel to the host course of this week’s Olympic Golf competition will have Marcus Fraser and Scott Hend feeling right at home when the 60-man field tees off tomorrow..

The eagerly anticipated return of golf to the games after a 112-year absence will be a new experience for all taking part and on a course which is hosting its first serious competition.

Architect of the course, American Gil Hanse, spent several days in Australia during the design process studying the famed courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt and in particular their iconic bunkers.

He incorporated much of that look into the Olympic layout and Australian team captain Ian Baker-Finch told The Australian’s Brent Read this week that could play into the Australian pair’s hands.

"I think the course will suit them because it suits their eye," the 1991 Open champion said. "They will be comfortable."

Both Fraser and Hend come into the week in decent form having made the cut at the year’s final Major, the PGA Championship, a fortnight ago.

Despite playing down his chances prior to the week Fraser comfortably made the cut at Baltusrol and despite fading at the weekend will be pleased with his effort in New Jersey.

Hend, too, will take only positives from Baltusrol having been in the mix for much of the week and only dropping out of the top-25 with a disappointing Sunday round.

2016 has been a good year for both players, Fraser winning on the European Tour for the first time in six years, while Hend has continued to mature as a player despite now being in his early 40’s.

The big hitting Queenslander believes he belongs in the top echelons of the game and the week in Rio offers a big opportunity for him to prove that.

A gold medal this week would come with a large helping of credibility and Hend has shown in the past four years that his golf mind has caught up with the always impressive physical elements of his game to make a formidable player.

The wide fairways and abundance of short grass at the Olympic layout will suit his aggressive, though sometimes wayward, play from the tee.

For Fraser, who grew up playing the bulk of his amateur golf in Melbourne, the look and feel of the course will be familiar and his strong suit, his game around the greens, will have the opportunity to come to the fore.

Not the longest of hitters, both the wind and the moderate length of the course will work in his favour and while others will be attracting the bulk of the attention both Hend and Fraser are capable of surprising.

The pair will carry an enormous sense of pride into the 72-hole competition and both will be keen to make history by claiming a medal in what is an historic event for the game.