Paul Streeter, Mathew Morris and Simon Lilly will head one of the strongest fields ever to launch the first tournament on the PGA Midland Order of Merit schedule when they tee it up at the Glazerite Trophy final tomorrow.
The trio who finished first, second and third, respectively, in last year's PGA Play-offs all travel to Wellingborough Golf Club with high hopes of carrying their fine form from the end of the 2007 season into this year's campaign.
Streeter, of Southwell GC, is a former champion, having claimed the title in 2006 while Lilly, of Kettering, clinched the final Order of Merit event last year when his closing round of 64 handed him the Carlsberg Tour Championship at Cold Ashby, in Northamptonshire, beating Hatchford Brook's Morris.
But none of the triumvirate will be able to rest on his laurels with keen competition from an eager field of chasers.
Ian Lyner, of The Leicestershire, is in confident mood to defend his crown following his recent victory in the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship qualifier at Little Aston last week. And Craig Phillips, of Nuneaton GC, booked his return to Wellingborough in this week's final with victory in the Glazerite Pre-Qualifier last month.
Phillips, who is also vice-chairman of the Midland Professional Golfers' Association, shot a level par 72 to qualify, leading home Shirley's Andrew Barton and Neil Evans, of Greetham Valley, on the same score. Jeremy Nicholls, of Ledene GC, was one of nine players who finished one over par to be among the 34 qualifiers for the return to Wellingborough.
Kenilworth's James Crompton also has reason to be buoyant when he tees it up alongside Steven Courtney (Chase GC) and Iain Ball (Longcliffe).
Crompton has just been named April's Skycaddie PGA Player of the Month after a scintillating start to the 2008 season. His almost perfect start to the season saw him win the Midland Masters pre-qualifier at Kedleston Park, followed by qualification for this week's event and the Glenmuir after finishing joint-fourth at Little Aston.
While a welcome addition to his golfing armoury, Crompton's prize of a SkyCaddie SG 2.5 rangefinder, will pale alongside the chance to take on some of the Midlands' best as 80-plus players battle for the first significant title of the season.
And there will be something of a European Tour flavour to the event with Paul Wesselingh (Kedleston Park) and Brian Rimmer (Little Aston) both bringing experience of golf's top flight to the field.
Wesselingh, the 2005 Glenmuir PGA Professional Champion, is one of the most experienced pros on the Midland circuit. A veteran of Open Championships and full Tour events, the 45-year-old featured heavily in Gary Alliss' Great Britain & Ireland side that narrowly lost 13½-12½ to the United States in last year's PGA Cup.
Rimmer has already tasted on-course success this year having triumphed in the Gulf Air International Pro-Captain Challenge in Bahrain in February.
The 41-year-old forged a great partnership with his amateur partner, Little Aston club captain Neil Andrews, on the King's private course in Safriya. An opening round of 57 combined with a second round 58 - that saw Andrews shoot an impressive five birdies - gave the pair a 13-under-par total.
It was Rimmer's second title in three years, having played in three successive grand finals, while Andrews won for the first time at his second attempt.
James Whatley, of East Midlands Golf Academy and another PGA Cup stalwart, also starts on Thursday, alongside Andrew Barton and Lee Mason.
Such strength in depth for the opening OOM tournament will delight sponsor John Hewitt, managing director of Glazerite, who has seen the event develop over the past few years.
Hewitt knows the course well. He is a member at Wellingborough and is delighted with the progress the tournament is making. This year will see the pro-am follow the tournament rather than precede it.
"We found a lot of players went home after the pro-am as they had the tournament the following day and we're hoping that the switch will avoid the players having to dash off," said Hewitt.
"We've found the pro-am to be a successful day and a good way of promoting ourselves to the rest of the trade."
The Glazerite Trophy, played over 36 holes on Thursday, has quickly established itself on the Midland schedule and is one six events in the race for the end of season Srixon PGA Play-Offs to find Great Britain and Ireland's No1 professional.
Royal Liverpool will stage this year's play-offs which will feature the top three on the Order of Merit from each of the PGA's seven regions. The restricted field sees 21 players pitting their wits against each other over 36 holes of one of the toughest links courses in the country.
And in addition to the prize money and the title of the country's best professional, the extra incentive for competitors is entry to four of Europe's biggest events - the BMW PGA Championship, Celtic Manor Wales Open, Barclays Scottish Open and European Open.