The left-handed New Zealander will start among the favourites at the Hills because of his recent form and his history at the course.
He finished equal 12th at the New Zealand PGA at Clearwater at the weekend, carding excellent rounds of 67, 68 and 69 mixed with a rough 74 in the third. In late 2007, he played four consistent rounds when the Open was first played at the Hills.
He shot 70-72-71-70 to finish five-under-par, in a tie for 16th and the second-best New Zealander behind Josh Geary.
"I played really nice here last time," Paddison told the Otago Daily Times on his arrival in Queenstown yesterday.
"I drove the course very well from memory but didn't putt very well.
"I'm generally hitting the ball a lot better now and that definitely gives me some confidence."
Paddison led the PGA briefly at the weekend but slipped off the pace set by fellow New Zealanders Steve Alker, David Smail and Geary.
"I played great for the first two rounds but I struggled over the weekend because I couldn't get my putter going. I had three double bogies over four days and that was disappointing.
"I was very disappointed not to be right in the top 10 after leading after two days. I just didn't capitalise on a good start."
After playing the Open, Paddison gets a week off and then plays in a four-day invitational tournament in Sydney. He will then come back to New Zealand for three weeks before heading to Europe, where he has full status on the second-tier Challenge Tour.
Paddison will also be in line for 7-8 starts on the European Tour, which encourages him to stay based in Europe. The United States appeals, as it does to all New Zealand professionals, but Paddison would need to do something spectacular in the Open to change his travel plans.
"I would need to win it to get to the States. So if I don't win, I'll definitely stay in Europe. It's not worth me going to the US with conditional status on the secondary tour. That wouldn't be good enough for me.
"I've got a full year guaranteed in Europe that includes plenty of full-tour events, so that's not worth risking."
Paddison has fond memories of Dunedin because he won his first tournament in the city, the Scenic Circle Hotels Classic, in 2002. He was just 22 when he won the now defunct event at Chisholm Park.
"I've got good memories of that. It's always nice to play some half-decent golf at home and hopefully I can do that this week."
The golfers who turned up for the first day of practice were greeted by wintery conditions at the Hills yesterday. Snow dusted the tops of the Remarkables and the course was buffeted by strong and cold southerly winds. Amateur star Danny Lee made his first low-key visit to the course.
After spending time on the driving range, he headed off for a practice round. The Hills was busy all day as groundsmen, television technicians and the Mainstreet workers started ticking off the jobs before Wednesday's pro-am and Thursday's opening round.
