Victorian Lisa Jean will break through golf's glass ceiling at Huntingdale on Tuesday by becoming the first-ever women to contest the men's Victorian PGA Championship.
The 34-year-old Jean earned her position in the field by winning last year's Victorian club championship.
She will be playing off the men's tees at the 6363m Huntingdale layout.
"I'm the only girl in the field, so it's an unusual position," said Jean, who works as the golf operations manager at Horsham GC in western Victoria.
"It's never happened before.
"I am pretty nervous about the thought of playing but I am trying not to let those thoughts get to me.
"Obviously, playing against the men, they are going to be out-driving and out-hitting me.
"I just need to play my game and see how it goes. If I start trying to play a different game to what I am used to then it will affect what I do."
The 171cm Jean will tee off at 1232 (AEDT) in Tuesday's opening round alongside 23-year-old Taylor Macdonald, who turned pro recently after a stellar amateur career.
Jean said one of her goals was to card a round near even-par 72 around the famed Huntingdale layout.
"And it would be nice to make the cut but that is a lofty expectation," she said.
"But you never know - once a competitor, always a competitor."
Sandbelt specialist and 2014 Australian Masters champion Nick Cullen will be keen to maintain his great local strike rate at Huntingdale.
Apart from donning the gold jacket at neighbouring Metropolitan, the left-hander from Adelaide also booked a British Open spot when international qualifying was held just down the road at Kingston Heath.
But achieving further success on one of the world-class layouts in Melbourne's south-east will be hard-fought given the field is sprinkled with a host of other male contenders such as West Australian Michael Sim, a multiple winner on the US secondary tour.
Victorians Mathew Griffin and Alistair Presnell, a Huntingdale member, and power-hitter Todd Sinnott will also be hungry to win in front of a home crowd.
Others will realistic hopes are Perth rookie Jarryd Felton and defending champion Aaron Townsend from NSW.
Recent editions of the Victorian PGA Championship have been modelled on the long-running Pebble Beach pro-am in California with tournament professionals playing alongside celebrity amateurs.
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