The pair are among six amateurs picked to play at Wollongong this week but neither Tighe or Keevers will be happy to just play with the professionals.

Tighe, who represented Australia and played the British Amateur this year, has his eyes set on the weekend after spending the past month preparing for the tournament.

"I want to make the cut but I'd love to have a top 10 or something like that," he said.

"This is my home town and I have been playing here for the past month getting to know the course and I think I'm ready to play well."

Keevers, who is a member of Wollongong, has also targeted shooting two good rounds to make the cut.

The 17-year-old has shot a five-under par 65 around the regular layout but has never played the course as it is set up this week.

The course has been changed to play as two nine-hole loops, which start and finish at the clubhouse, for the PGA.

"They have changed the course but the holes are still the same," Keevers said.

"They have lengthened a couple of them but it's still really the same course.

"It's good to be playing my first professional tournament at somewhere I know so well and I'd really like to make the cut this week.

"Hopefully playing here all the time will give me an advantage because the greens can be a pretty weird here and hard to read.

"They are as fast as I have seen them, so it going to be a challenge."

Surprisingly Tighe and Keevers don't really know each other; 20-year-old Tighe plays his golf mainly at Port Kembla and at Bonnie Doon in Sydney.

He is using the next couple of weeks as a test of his ability with the PGA to be followed by the NSW Open before he tries to earn a place in the Australian Open at final stage of qualifying.

"It's always good to see how you go against the players who do it for a living," Tighe said. "After going to England this year I have come back and played a lot better.

"I can really grind out a score when I'm having a bad day now and I have learned a bit about my game.

"I'm playing the NSW Open next week as well, so it is a good experience to be doing what I would be doing if I was to turn pro.

"It will be good to live the life like a pro for the next two weeks - preparing and practicing then playing with the pressure of a tournament."