Professional golfer Lucas Herbert headlines the biggest field in tournament history for Saturday's Andrew Johnston Four Ball Best Ball at Bendigo Golf Club.
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A record field of 240 players will battle in the feature event of Bendigo Golf Club's annual Wilson Storage Christmas Challenge.
A regular at the Christmas Challenge, Herbert returns to his hometown on the back of two top-10 finishes in Australia's biggest events.
He finished seventh in last week's Australian Open in Sydney and tied for seventh at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane the week prior.
Royal Melbourne Golf Club general manager Damon Lonnie, a long-time Bendigo Golf Club member and former club junior champion, and Drummond Golf Australia chief executive Jamie Cooke, who is also a Bendigo Golf Club member, will both tee off in Saturday's event.
The four-day Christmas Challenge begins on Thursday with the Lyn Harding 4BBB.
Friday is a two player ambrose event, while Sunday's festivities include a par-three challenge and a pairs stableford aggregate.
"Over the four days we have 100 more participants this year compared to last year,'' Bendigo Golf Club general manager Brock Rogers said.
"240 for Saturday's event is the absolute capacity for that event.
"Last year we named Saturday's event in honour of Andrew Johnston, after the former club president passed away.
"This year we've named the ladies day on Thursday after Lyn Harding, who has been a great contributor to our club and she was the first female president in the 120-year history of the club.
"It was only fitting that the event on Thursday was named in her honour."
Places are still available for the events on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
The public is invited to attend Saturday's event and watch Herbert plot his way around the Bendigo course.
The world number 66 is scheduled to tee off at 12.52pm.
