The course where he first began playing the game, Herbert had eight birdies and an eagle in his round of seven-under 64 to match Queenslander Chris Wood at Neangar Park Golf Club near Bendigo.

Given his history at the golf club Herbert drew a large gallery to a rare homecoming, tuning up for another hectic season across both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR with a confidence-boosting performance.

Disappointed in his performance with the driver in 2022, Herbert put the work he and Azzopardi have undertaken into practice and liked what he saw ahead of his DP World Tour season debut at the Dubai Desert Classic from January 26.

“It was good today to get a scorecard in the pocket and see how that felt when it mattered and I felt like I did that really well,” said Herbert, adding that holiday “parmas at the pub” are now on hold.

“There are areas of my game a long way in front of where I expected them to be but there’s still a lot of room for cleaning it up and improving it going into the season out there on tour.”

Herbert will stay in the area to play the Axedale Pro-Am on Friday, grateful for the support he received not only in his adidas PGA Pro-Am Series cameo but throughout the year.

“That was the good thing about being home. I got to see everyone that you don’t really get to see during the year,” Herbert said.

“Everyone is wishing you well for the upcoming 12 months. I know the community follows me a lot so I know it’s important for them to come back and see me and I feel the same way.

“It was good to see the course in great condition and the familiarity was a big help today.”

Winner of the Vic PGA two years ago, Wood is building towards a big finish to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia season.

Currently 14th on the Order of Merit, Wood paid particular attention to his approach shots at Neangar Park, rewarded with a seven-birdie bogey-free round.

“The goal at the start of the day was to make no bogeys because I’ve been making a lot of bogeys lately,” said Wood, who will restart his season at TPS Victoria on January 26.

“I just tried to focus a bit more with my numbers hitting into the greens. I’ve been getting off the tee and chipping and putting well but I just had to focus a bit more with my shots into the green and hit numbers.”

Another Neangar Park local, Andrew Martin (65), finished one stroke back of Herbert and Wood in a share of third with Euan Walters (65). Kyle Michel (66) and Ben Paine (66) rounded out the top five.

The next event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is the Symes Motors BMW Axedale Pro-Am at Axedale Golf Club on Friday.

Click here for final scores and prize money.