I've probably done enough twitter patter to avoid highlighting here the starkness of the contrast from last week to this, as the European Tour swaps Saudi Arabia for Australia; from pandering to the wrong type of crowd to pioneering the right type of event.

Let's look forward, rather than back, with the ISPS Handa Vic Open offering the chance for men and women to tee it up on the same courses, in front of the same crowds, for the same prize money. For bringing this event to a wider audience, the European Tour and the LPGA Tour deserve great credit and it's to be hoped that they're rewarded with four days of golf worthy of their spectacular surroundings just outside of Melbourne.

To avoid confusion, let's make clear that there are two events here - one for men, one for women - but they will play in alternate groups, firstly across two golf courses before the top 60 and ties in each event play 36 holes at the host Beach Course, with its sister Creek layout used only on Thursday and Friday. Come Sunday, then, the final group in the women's event will tee off just before the final group in the men's event; as best they can, the events run concurrently.

It ought not to affect the dynamics of each event, really. Essentially, we're looking at a format common in tournaments like the Joburg Open or, more recently, the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour. Playing two courses over the first two days is ever so slightly less familiar to European Tour regulars than it would be to a PGA Tour player, but it's not totally alien and, clearly, the layouts in question share many similarities. They're by the coast, albeit Creek is more inland, and should resemble seaside versions of The Metropolitan, Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath.

So while this is not just another golf tournament - and there are sure to be interesting conversations had about each individual event throughout the week, particularly relating to the absence of so many LPGA stars - for the purposes of a betting preview, it should be approached like one. That means we must take on board all the usual considerations, including the paucity of relevant course form and the significant drop in grade from the Middle East, and it's the latter which might give us the best starting point.

This time last year, Shubhankar Sharma won the Maybank Championship Malaysia having seemingly started the year in mediocre form, struggling to compete in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The same thing happened in 2017, Fabrizio Zanotti running up three missed cuts in the gulf before striking Malaysia, and it also happened in 2016, when Marcus Fraser found comfort in the same country for largely the same reasons.

We may not be in Malaysia, but the contrast from desert golf on big-hitter courses in the Middle East to the far subtler style here by the coast in Australia is likely to be no less significant, and it's with this theme very much in mind that Aaron Rai gets the headline vote.

Rai has by no means disgraced himself so far this year, finishing 54th in Abu Dhabi, 29th in Dubai and 34th in Saudi Arabia, but his accurate game should be far better suited to the likely challenge this week.

That game remains in the sort of nick which saw him really impress in winning the Hong Kong Open at Fanling, by no means a shock victory for one of the most promising young golfers on the European Tour, one whose rise through the ranks has been rapid and has not finished yet.

Victory in Hong Kong was once again built around his strong iron play and having hit 77.8 per cent of greens there for seventh place in the GIR rankings, it's telling that he's remained consistently around those numbers while continuing to find fairways throughout the first month of the year, on courses which offer less reward for the way he does it.

There's every reason to believe that Rai will kick on again in 2019 and a low-grade event in Australia, where his accuracy now counts for something, represents a fantastic opportunity for one of the biggest talents in the field.

It's no coincidence that Australian players have dominated in Hong Kong in recent years, that is until Rai put an end to it, as Fanling plays very much like a sandbelt course. The way Rai strategically took it apart before fending off the top-class Matt Fitzpatrick is particularly encouraging with this week in mind.

With victories in Spain, Kenya, Hong Kong and France already on the CV, Rai looks a strong candidate and he's entitled to be vying for favouritism - hence the chunky bet in an event which on the face of it encourages a cautious approach.

Adrian Otaegui also brings a touch of class to proceedings and I'm surprised he's not a good deal shorter after appearing to come to the boil nicely last week.

The Spaniard stepped up on a pair of missed cuts to begin the year with four sub-70 rounds and they came courtesy of his strengths, which are not dissimilar to Rai's: finding fairways, hitting greens and taking chances when they come.