The Bendigo teenager tees off in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne on Thursday with the winner to gain automatic entry to next year’s US Masters at Augusta.

“(Playing at Augusta) is a huge carrot,’’ Herbert said after playing a practice round at Royal Melbourne on Tuesday.

“Play really well this week and do everything right and there’s the lure of playing at Augusta.

“It would be huge… it would be a dream come true to play at Augusta.

"I've thought about it every day for the past month."

Herbert enters the Asia-Pacific Amateur as one of the favourites.

He finished tied for fourth in this tournament last year in China and was second in the individual event at the Eisenhower Trophy in Japan last month.

Herbert also has the advantage of knowing the tough Royal Melbourne layout well.

“I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity,’’ he said.

“It’s a stroke event, which is where I play my best golf, and the tournament is on home soil on a course I’ve seen one million times.

“Most of the guys from Asia won’t have played a course like Royal Melbourne before.”

Royal Melbourne is famous for its slick greens and Herbert expects the strong Australian contingent of players to be hard to beat.

“It’s a different style of golf at Royal Melbourne,’’ Herbert said.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible for one of the Asian players to win, but knowing the course is a big plus.

“You have to play shots you normally wouldn’t expect to play.

“There’s places on these greens that you just can’t hit because if you do, you have no chance of stopping the ball on the green.

“If the wind gets up this week, even-par might win the tournament. Hopefully, we see some low scoring.”

Herbert has had to juggle his year 12 studies at Bendigo Senior Secondary College with preparing for the feature tournament.

Herbert has several exams to study for, but this week’s event has taken up most of his attention of late.

“In reality, this is my final exam,’’ he said.

“If I play well here and win, it opens doors for me as a career pathway in golf.

“If you finish year 12 well and get a good score then it opens up pathways to a good professional career.

“I’m still going to try hard with school, but this event is very important to me as well.”