Payne's last triumph came in 2015 and while he didn't contest this year's City of Orange Golf Championship the Duntryleague phenom boast confidence leading in after winning his 13^th Parkes Open earlier this year.

Barrett said 2017 champion Mark Hale, who claimed the Mudgee Open title earlier this month, is shaping as Payne's biggest competition along with Michael Stanford, the latter boasts a home track advantage.

"Among the locals will be Robert Payne and Mark Hale. They're two of the strongest contenders in the Central West, then we've got our local Michael Stanford who is playing some scintillating golf at the moment," Barrett said.

They'll all be seriously challenged by visiting contenders though, with a huge response from metropolitan golfers, while trainee professional Dylan Thompson is looking for more success after winning the Dunvehed and Strathfield trainee matches this year.

They're all among a bumper field, which has come after there was concerns the event might not draw its typical fields after being stripped of its NSW Open qualifier status.

"The response from Sydney has been amazing," he said.

"Even without the NSW Open invite on offer we've got a lot of visitors still coming. There's a lot of players from last year who I wasn't sure whether I'd ever see them again but they're back for more.

"Entries are great. We've got 210 players already booked, which is a great field considering there isn't the temptation of a NSW Open berth this year," he said.

"They rotate that around the regional clubs so our two years of that are done. During that time we had a lot of players coming from the greater Sydney area.

"But what I think has happened is that they've enjoyed the course, facilities and hospitality so much that they've come back to play again.

"It's still a Vardon event, which is a NSW averages measure, and it still carries a lot of prestige."