It also gave a host of his contemporaries belief that they could be next.

It’s been a long-time coming but Younger finally gets to put his Golf Challenge NSW Open title on the line at Concord Golf Club starting Thursday where once again much of the focus will be on the extraordinary pool of young talent that has burst onto the scene in the past 12 months.

Yet an examination of the winners on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia this year shows a group of players who have spent year after year after year grinding to become an overnight sensation.

Marcus Fraser (Gippsland Super 6) and Brad Kennedy (TPS Victoria) are proven tournament winners now in their 40s but it took until they had gone beyond their 30th birthday for Chris Wood (Victorian PGA Championship), Bryden Macpherson (Moonah Links PGA Classic), Andrew Martin (TPS Sydney) and Andrew Evans (Isuzu Queensland Open) to taste success for the first time.

Now 37 years of age, Younger takes no credit for the breakthrough wins of his fellow 30-somethings but understands the emotions they experienced as a result.

“It’s amazing when someone who has been there for a while wins and then it’s followed up the next week. They might draw a bit of belief from it, that it can happen,” says Younger, hopeful of a practice round on Wednesday given the atrocious conditions experienced in Sydney the past week.

“You come from amateur stuff where you win a few tournaments at state level and then win a national event. You make the transition into professional golf but probably don’t realise just how hard it is to win.

“You look at the last few events. Andy Martin’s first win, Andrew Evans’ first win, Chris Wood’s first win, Bryden Macpherson, it just shows the depth and how hard it is to win.

“I’ve realised how hard it is to win so you feel as though you’ve justified everything that you’ve done.

“Not that anyone looks at you any different but you feel like that you belong a little bit.

“It was a great feeling. You try and explain it to people… It got to a stage there where you watch the PGA TOUR every week, Monday morning someone wins and you wonder what that feeling’s like. To finally do it… it’s as good as they say it is.

“Now as you reflect back it makes you hungry to chase that feeling again. You want to do it again and that’s what we’re all chasing.”

The average age of winners since the resumption of the PGA Tour of Australasia in January is 36.5 but this week’s stellar field is also littered with rookies ready to make their mark.

Top-five in both events of The Players Series, 18-year-old Elvis Smylie has been granted an invitation to play his third event as a professional and is joined by Blake Windred, David Micheluzzi, Nathan Barbieri, Jack Thompson and Josh Armstrong.

The past two Australian Amateur champions Jed Morgan and Louis Dobbelaar lead a contingent of 23 amateurs adding to their foundations for a professional career at Concord so they can one day make a smooth transition.

“The jump into the professional ranks may not be as big as what it used to be,” reasons Younger.

“You’re a professional amateur nowadays, even before you turn pro. They’re doing everything the same, it’s just that they’ve got their amateur status.

“Across all sports the newer generation are a lot more aware of certain things and that’s definitely got to be a help for them.

“Even on the PGA TOUR you hear a lot of players say now that 20-year-olds are coming out and ready to win straight away. If you compare that to the pre-Tiger era that never happened.”

With $400,000 in prize money the Golf Challenge NSW Open has attracted some of the biggest names in Australian golf including prolific Japan Golf Tour winner Brendan Jones, PGA TOUR winners Nathan Green and Peter Lonard and Aussie icon Peter Senior.