Golf-wise, my brain has officially reached saturation point.
First there were the hours spent in front of the TV watching The Great One (aka Tiger Woods) making his comeback after 10 months - compulsive viewing that.
Then there was young Danny Lee giving some hotshot pros a head start and a beating in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth recently - ditto compulsive viewing.
Time also to do some overdue homework on the Nationwide tour and all the likely contenders for the Hills next week - basically an exercise of "spot a name you recognise" (not that many actually) - and ploughing through a wealth of golfing information on the Internet to become better-informed.
And, finally, the not-so-small matter of helping to organise the annual ODT golf tournament this weekend.
That might sound like the easiest of all the golfing tasks, given it's such a small field, but we made the mistake of not rebooking the course we hacked to pieces last year and only found out recently it wasn't available this year.
So, in searching for a new (and as yet un-hacked) venue I was tempted to ring up the ever-helpful John Griffin and tell him I was finally going to accept his offer of a game of golf at Jacks Point - and would it be OK if I brought along a busload of workmates, some who barely know the difference between a putter and a potato masher?
Well, I heard the rough at Jacks is high and thick in places but I reckon if I let my ODT colleagues loose on it, we'd have the undergrowth down to shoelace height in next to no time, plus have a couple of buckets of near new Callaways and Titleist Pro V balls to show for our efforts.
But, to be honest, the only rough I'm truly interested in right now is the stuff Ian Douglas and his staff have been grooming at the Hills, in readiness for next week's Open - and the fairways, and the greens, and the bunkers, and the ponds, and those enormous tussocks!In short, I can't wait to get back to the Hills and see how much a magnificent course has matured or changed in the 16 months since Richard Finch won the Open there in 2007.
In November-December that year it was still very much a new and largely untested layout; the greens were hard and not as receptive as the pros liked; indeed, there was so much grizzling about the so-called "unplayable" par 3 16th that the players were moved forward to the "ladies" tee on the third day, for an easier angle of attack, prompting some strong criticism from course designer John Darby.
But, I'm told, no changes have been made to the hole's design because, in the intervening months, the green, with constant watering and attention, has improved.
Stay tuned.
What won't have changed, I'm sure, are the superb vantage points at the Hills for spectators to catch all the golfing action.
There are few courses, if any, to match it for crowd access, with one of most favoured spots being the elevated banks around the 10th green.
From there fans can keep a close eye on any hole-in-one attempts (a tough ask on a three-tiered, well bunkered green); watch players' tee shots on Nos 2, 6, 7, 11 and 13 plus approach shots to Nos 3 and 4.
I reckon if they set up a public bar there, a barbecue, a couple of wide-screen TVs and some portaloos, nobody would want to leave.
So, if we safely assume the course and facilities at the Hills will again be top notch, that leaves only two undecided factors - the weather (is a week of clear, sunny skies and temperatures of about 30degC really too much to ask for?) and the quality of golf produced by the participants.
On the player front, the most significant difference from 2007 is a fair percentage of the field will come from members of the American-based Nationwide tour, comprising aspiring professionals all trying to break into the big-time of the PGA tour, and those who've been there and dropped out.
So, who will the fans be trekking after in droves next week? Well, no prizes for guessing Sir Bob Charles, last year's star performer, and the exciting young amateur Danny Lee, both of whom are expected to fly New Zealand's flag with some distinction.
But, on the Queenstown front, hopes rest at time of writing on European Seniors Tour pro Jim Lapsley and Millbrook professional Ben Gallie, both of whom have to finish in the top four in next Monday's 18-hole qualifying round at Shirley, in Christchurch, to make the final field.
Back in 2007, Lapsley endured 62 hours of air travel to get back home to take advantage of an invitation to play in the Open alongside fellow seniors Sir Bob and Simon Owen, but, sadly, there was no fairy-tale ending to his endeavours.
This time, Lapsley has again been chalking up the air miles big-time, having flown to Brunei at the end of February to contest a $US400,000 ($NZ790,900) seniors event, eventually finishing 43rd and, according to his website, picking up about 1100 ($NZ2750).
He then flew back to New Zealand this week and was due to play a pro-am in Auckland on Tuesday and then contest the New Zealand Seniors Open at Wairakei, near Taupo, which finishes tomorrow, before flying to Christchurch for Monday's qualifier.
Phew. Good luck, Jim.
If anyone deserves to make it, he does.
In next Monday's column I'll have a closer look at some of the lesser-known players we can expect to see at the Hills next week.
