Brett Rumford has spent his career plying his trade on the European Tour and while he is supporting his home Tour this week, he will play alongside European Tour Pros of a different kind.

This week the Oates Vic Open brings some of the best male and female Tour Professionals to Thirteenth Beach Golf Links as the men’s and women’s titles are played concurrently.

The women’s title is a new event on the Ladies European Tour which has seen a strong contingent, including four Solheim Cup players and multiple Olympians, travel to Victoria.

On the eve of the tournament teeing off, Rumford is already signing the praises of the format and his female counterparts.

“It’s different but I’ve only heard good things about combining it with the ladies as well,” Rumford said.

“You’ll get some good crowds down here and obviously it’s really great to have the mix playing together. I played with a couple of ladies (on Tuesday) and they’re incredible talents.

“It’s a great location out here at Barwon Heads and I’m looking forward to it.

“I’ve always been a big supporter of Australian golf and the Tour so it’s great to come back and have the opportunity to play and it will still be a proud achievement taking out this title this week.”

Conditions were almost perfect for Wednesday’s pro-am but Rumford knows Thirteenth Beach has a reputation for being difficult to score on if the winds pick up.

“The predictions (for a winning score) are all over the place but, being a links course, it needs a bit of wind – as all links golf courses need,” Rumford said.

“We played the pro-am this morning and it was fairly benign but it’s scoreable so really looking forward to the week.”

The Oates Vic Open will be played from 9-12 February at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links with a field of 144 players vying for a prize purse of AU$500,000.

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 two years.