Where stars are born has long been the catch cry of the Oates Vic Open and it’s a fitting tagline based on recent stagings of the tournament.

Over the past few years the Oates Vic Open has been the first tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia; providing rising stars of Australian golf the opportunity to make their professional debuts.

Last year, big hitting Todd Sinnott made his highly anticipated foray into the pay for play ranks at the Oates Vic Open.

Having already carved a name for himself as an amateur,Sinnott truly rose to prominence at the 2014 Australian Masers where he held a share of the first round lead at his home club, Metropolitan.

Proving it wasn’t a flash in the pan performance, Sinnott was tied second with Rory McIlroy after two rounds at the Emirates Australian Open.

Managing nerves and expectations, Sinnott finished a respectable T20 on debut before jetting overseas to spend the year competing on the European Tour.

Returning home with plenty of experience, Sinnott once again shone on one of Australia’s biggest stages finishing T8 at the 2015 Emirates Australian Open.

While all the fanfare was for Sinnott’s debut at the VicOpen last year Jordan Zunic slipped quietly under the radar.

Having failed to earn his Tour card, Zunic backed himself to turn Professional relying on pre-qualifying to earn his starts.

Zunic may have missed the cut in his first tournament but just a month later he went on to win the BMW New Zealand Open, securing his tour status in the process.

In 2012 Daniel Popovic made his debut on the PGA Tour of Australasia at the Oates Vic Open finishing tied 8^th.

Popovic, a little known player at the time, soon had his life changed when he went on to win the season ending Australian PGA Championship.

A new crop of players are hoping that this week’s Oates Vic Open, being played at 13^th Beach Golf Links, will be the launching pad for their Professional careers.

Turning Professional this week is Irishman Cormac Sharman who went unbeaten at the 2015 Walker Cup during Great Britain and Ireland’s most emphatic victory in the tournaments history.

He will be joined in the field by fellow debutantes TomPower Horan (VIC), Lachlan McDonald (NZL), Cory Crawford (QLD) and Tae Koh (NZL) who all earned status on the PGA Tour of Australasia via Qualifying School.

The Oates Vic Open tees off on Thursday 4th February with the champion decided on Sunday 7^th December.

Along with the winner’s share of the $300,000 prize purse the champion will earn status on the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of 2017 and Official World Golf Ranking points.