Zunic, 25, is targeting a strong showing at the Open as the best possible preparation for the second stage of the European Tour Qualifying School.

“I fly out to Barcelona the day after the Open for the second stage of Q-School that week,’’ he said.

“A competitive finish in a 72-hole tournament would be an ideal way to go into the event in Spain.’’

Zunic, who won the 2015 New Zealand Open Championship during his first year as a professional, has barely had time to put his feet on the ground since successfully navigating the first round of Q-school in Portugal last week.

“I shot 7-under for the four rounds to tie for 20th and qualify right on the mark,’’ he said. “It’s pretty tough because more than a thousand players contest the first stage at various venues.’’

Zunic, a former student at St Johns High School, will contest next week’s WA Open at Royal Perth before heading to Queensland where he finished tied 25th in last year’s Open.

“I like Brisbane Golf Club and think I have the game to play well there,’’ he said.

He opened with a 69 at Brisbane last year but had a 74 in the second round before successive 71s on the weekend.

“I enjoy Brisbane and loved playing the Keperra Bowl when I was an amateur,’’ he said.

Zunic also produced a strong showing at the 2017 Queensland PGA Championship when he stormed home on the weekend with rounds of 64-65 at Toowoomba’s City Golf Club to finish fifth behind winner Daniel Pearce.

He later spent three months playing the European Challenge Tour with a fifth placing in Switzerland his best finish.

“It was a lot tougher in Europe than I expected,” he said.

“You are obviously playing different courses in different countries week-to-week.

“The competition is pretty fierce but it is invaluable experience dealing with the travel and the varying conditions.

“Although I was virtually travelling for the whole three months the positive was that it is usually only a one or two hour flight between tournaments.

“If I manage to get my European Tour card for 2018 it will be great, if not I’m happy to go back and play the Challenge Tour.’’

Zunic approaches his golf with perspective following a near fatal car accident in the United States in 2013.

He was a passenger in a car which was hit by another vehicle on an intersection in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The impact caused Zunic’s car to cannon into a telegraph pole resulting in serious head injuries to the golfer.

He lost about 40 per cent of his blood due to the temporal artery on the right side of his head being severed.

Three fractures to his left elbow also threw a serious cloud over his recovery and ability to play golf again.

At the time he was Australia’s No 1 amateur and had qualified to contest the US Amateur which he obviously missed.

It took eight months of rehabilitation before he was fit and well enough to play golf again.

“Sometimes I think people can take things for granted,’’ he said.

“When you are having a bad day on the golf course, rather than complaining, just think you are lucky to be out there.’’

The Isuzu Queensland Open will be played from 26-29 October at the Brisbane Golf Club as part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia summer of golf