With an increased $65,000 prize purse, two spots in the BMW Australian PGA Championship up for grabs, as well as Four Nations and Women’s PGA Cup spots on offer, the 66 vocational members from around the country have plenty to play for this week in Melbourne, and Smith’s campaign is off to a dream start.

Trailing him in second is New South Welshman Daniel Nesbitt at 3-under, with another Sydneysider ,Michael Smyth, tied third with West Australian Scott Barr at 2-under.

Barr will be a player to watch this week, coming off a T21 finish at the CKB WA PGA Championship presented by TX Civil & Logistics.

Australia’s Women’s PGA Cup captain Katelyn Must (Qld) is a further shot back at 1-under, tied with Alexander Simpson (NSW) in fifth.

Coaching out of Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast as well as The Sim Range in Brisbane, Smith is happy to have made a positive start to his first PGA Professionals Championship National Final.

“I putted really well, that was pretty much just the thing there,” he said. “I holed a lot of putts. That saved me heaps.”

Starting his day on the 12th hole, Smith started with a birdie, however his round peaked later when he backed up a strong birdie on the eighth by eagling the par-five ninth.

“I hit a really good drive, which was actually rare today,” he laughed. “I had a really good group today with Rhys (Granger) who’s a local, so he gave some good lines to hit and yeah, I just managed to flush two in a row and then hold the putt again.”

Being a Queenslander now, Smith says today’s warm weather probably benefited him more than the rest of the field, while his years growing up in Tasmania helped on the putting surfaces.

“Anytime I come down south, I love playing on the bent grass and the soft greens, it’s sort of like coming home a little bit,” he said.

“You get a good roll on the ball, so I always feel like I’ve got a chance of rolling a few putts in and I generally give it a good go.”

Having gone to university straight out of school, 32-year-old Smith has only been a full PGA Member for two years, but says completing the Membership Pathway Program (MPP) was life changing for him.

“Went to Uni and then I was working as a greenkeeper and just podding along basically,” he said.

“The MPP sort of just popped up and I thought, well that’s something that I actually want to do with my life.”

Defending champion Matt Docking shot a 73 to be T11.

Full scores.