A full-to-bursting Gosling's Invitational begins at Belmont Hills today with the wind once again likely to be the deciding factor in who wins the tournament.

In all 103 amateurs and professionals have signed up for the event, with more than half coming from overseas to take part.

Defending champion Kirk Hanefeld will again fancy his chances of walking away with the $15,000 first prize, but in a field of 51 professionals he will face stiff competition from the likes of Delroy Cambridge, Mike Donald, and Craig Marseilles.

Within the tight confines of Belmont Hills the wind can be the difference between a high scoring day, and a low one. Today's forecast is for the wind to get stronger as the day goes on, so those with early tee times are likely to benefit from better conditions.

“If you have a calm day over here it's kind of an abnormal thing,” said Hanefeld who is due out at 8.36am alongside Canadians Keir Smith and Gordon Timbers. “You hope for the possibility of a calm day, but expect that it's going to be windy.

“I would expect some low scores though, it's a big field this year, and that's a tribute to Malcom (Gosling) and the kind of tournament that they've built over the years, that it's becoming more and more popular.”

Hanefeld comes into the tournament on the back of a steady, if unspectacular year on the Champions Tour, but said he felt comfortable enough with his game.

“I feel like I'm playing ok,” said Hanefeld. “I played pretty much full time on the Champio ns Tour. We finished up about three weeks ago, so I haven't played a lot in the last 10 days or so, but hopefully I'll remember how to hit it.

“My best finish was sixth in Minneapolis back in August I guess.

“I finished 70 on the money list, I would have hoped to have done a little better than that, but that's what it was.”

A total of 18 local professionals wil fly the flag for Bermuda this week, and among the favourites to do well are Order of Merit winner Scott Roy, Eric West who is splitting his time between home and playing on the Latin America Tour, and youngsters Nick Jones and Daniel Augustus.

Bermuda's amateurs will also fancy their chances of winning, with the likes of Jarryd Dillas, Terance Daniels and new Bermuda Golf Association president Nick Mansell all taking part over the next four days.