Legend Sir Bob Charles to play Carrus Open pro-am

TOP CLASS: Mark Brown has won three Carrus Open titles at Tauranga Golf Club. PHOTO: File

The 10th Carrus Open to be held at Tauranga Golf Club this week looks set to once again be the jewel in the crown of the Jennian Homes Charles Tour.

And New Zealand golfing royalty will open the tournament in style today.

Sir Bob Charles will tee off at 12pm in the pro-am round before the 72-hole strokeplay championship begins tomorrow morning with a field of 125 men and women competing.

Spectators are welcome to follow Sir Bob around the course and watch New Zealand's greatest golfer in action.

After the second round on Friday a cut will be made and the top 50 men and 12 women will play the final two rounds over the weekend.

The Carrus Open is the fifth and final event of the Jennian Homes Charles Tour and, along with the Carrus Trophy, there will be an award for the order of merit winner presented on Sunday afternoon.

Plenty of New Zealand's top young golfers have teed it up at the Carrus Open at Tauranga over the years.

Danny Lee competed in the event as an amateur in 2008. Ryan Fox and former winner Michael Hendry have also competed at the Tauranga course.

Favourite tag is likely to be shared among several top players this week with Gareth Paddison a likely candidate.

The left-hander has been in top form at the Charles Tour events at Akarana and Muriwai but past winners Ben Campbell, Jim Cusdin, three-time winner Josh Geary and two-time champion Mark Brown all have the game and history to be in contention to have their name inscribed on the trophy again.

Spectators are unlikely to forget Tauranga-based Brown scorching around the course in a record-breaking 59 in 2015.

Geary and Brown lead an impressive group of Bay of Plenty-based professionals chasing the title including Kieran Muir, Jared Pender, Luke Toomey, Victor Janin and Hayden Beard.

Two overseas professionals have entered in American Keelan Kirkpatrick and James Perkinson from Australia.

There will also be plenty of support for highly-regarded Bay amateurs Henry Spring (Whakatane), Shaun Campbell (Omanu) and Harry Hillier (Te Puke).

Alanna Campbell from Omanu is the leading Bay of Plenty contender in the women's tournament.

She is a former Carrus Open women's title winner and will be keen to make her mark before she begins a four-year golf scholarship at Iowa State University.

Something else for golf fans to see today is a performance at the Lakes Oval from 2pm by trick-shot specialist Henry Epstein.

Younger fans in particular will be thrilled by Epstein who shot to prominence in November 2001 when he smashed the Guinness World Record for golf ball control by juggling a golf ball between the faces of two sand irons for an amazing 33 minutes and 33 seconds, smashing the old record of 13 min 42 sec.

He now holds a new Guinness World Record at 2 min 22 sec for the longest time keeping a golf ball spinning on the face of a putter.