Stakes will be high in the next 48 hours as 21 of Great Britain & Ireland's best players assemble at Notts Golf Club tomorrow for the 36 hole PGA Play-Offs. Up for grabs is number one ranked PGA professional status plus prized entry to some of Europe's biggest tournaments.
The leading three players from each of the PGA's seven regional order of merits have won through to the play-offs at Hollinwell where they will be chasing one of the most lucrative prizes on offer with guaranteed entry for the leading finishers into four European Tour events next year - the BMW PGA Championship, the Smurfit Kappa European Open, The Barclays Scottish Open and the Celtic Manor Wales Open plus four Challenge Tour events.
Teign Valley's Sean Mason, who topped the West Region Order of Merit, admits it's a superb opportunity.
"It's massive for me, this is why I'm playing - to get myself in the European Tour events and to have that opportunity is fantastic," he said.
Ireland Order of Merit winner Mark Staunton, who is already guaranteed a place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, as are all of the Order of Merit winners, is also chasing those coveted European Tour spots given the impact it could have on next season.
"The opportunity of Tour starts will give me a lot of motivation going into it," he said. "It could end up being the core of a good season next year and certainly if I attack it right it's a door open to a place on those tours. Even if it's not an immediate progression it still gives you get experience for the future."
Two of the field - Scotland's Greig Hutcheon (Peterculter) and James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent) - are making a return having competed at Woodhall Spa last year.
Ablett, who finished 7th last year, has an added incentive for success after losing the South Region Order of Merit to Anthony Tarchetti (Littlestone) in the final event.
"I don't know how to describe it, losing the Order of Merit," said Ablett.
"Now, I am just going to go to the play-offs and play as hard as I can and see what happens.
"At 36 holes it is a bit of a sprint but all the guys who are playing are more than experienced enough to know what it is all about.
"We all realise what is available and what you have to do to get those starts. It is a fantastic opportunity."
In addition to the title and the Tour spots, there is also a £15,000 prize fund with £2,000 going to the winner.
PGA Play-Offs qualifiers:
North Region: David Shacklady (Mossock Hall), Barry Taylor (Houghwood), David Smith (Swinton Park); South Region: Anthony Tarchetti (Littlestone), James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent); Steve Cowle (Farnham); East Region: Ian Ellis (Weston Park), Mark Davis (Thorndon Park), Andrew Pestell (Chelmsford); West Region: Sean Mason (Teign Valley), Andrew Sherborne (Kendleshire), Barry Austin (Downes Crediton); Midland Region: Matt Morris (Hatchford Brook), Simon Lilly (Wellingborough), Paul Streeter (Southwell), Scottish Region: Greig Hutcheon (Peterculter), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Mark Loftus (Cowglen); Irish Region: Mark Staunton (Black Bush), Leslie Walker (Dundalk), Eamonn Brady (Clontarf).