Timms admitted any team could win on the day but he was confident his team would have an advantage playing at home.
He cited a quote by the late Arnold Palmer, who said "the more I practise, the luckier I get".
"My team has done plenty of practice, which I hope will pay off during the week," Timms said.
"We will need our share of luck but we have a great team spirit and I hope that will this will help us win many of our matches."
Otago has won the event only once since its inception but there is an air of confidence this year.
Local knowledge should assist the team, as all of the build-up trials and matches have been held on the linksland course.
For the first time in many years, the team has an appointed manager and corporate sponsorship has helped provide the players with new uniforms. Former Canterbury and Otago senior representative Andrew Hobbs will spearhead the team at No1 and a quiet achiever, Stephen Hitchcox, is at No2.
After a 31-year gap, Peter Rae returns to competitive golf and will relish playing on his home course during the tournament. The team is rounded off by John McIntee (Otago) and former Southland golfer Gary Creedy, who both have good matchplay records. Although match play is the same for all players, if the winds get up at Chisholm, the players who dig in are likely to prosper. The links course has been starved of water in the past but the current condition should help low scoring.
Chisholm Links professional Allan Court is looking forward to hosting the event on his course and said there were several holes which would test the competitors.
"The seventh, ninth and 17th holes, in particular, could decide many of the matches, if players do not play them well," he said.
"The seventh is a long par 3 but it can be tougher off the shorter teeing ground as players lose the ability to run the ball up.
"The ninth is the famous Lawyers Head hole which is tough off the back tee and placement off the tee will be crucial, especially if the pin is on the left side of the green."
"It has magnificent views over Tomahawk beach and the coastline but it is not always forgiving for the golfers.
"The 17th is a blind driving hole and if the pin is at the front of the green there will be plenty of bogeys."
Otago plays Poverty Bay on Monday morning and a strong Wellington quintet in the afternoon.
Otago has a bye on Tuesday morning and plays Waikato in the fourth round.
Auckland is next up for Otago on Wednesday morning, while neighbour Canterbury and Taranaki are the Thursday opponents.
The week will finish with matches against Northland and Southland on the final day of competition, Friday.
There are no semifinals or finals in this event. The winning teams will be decided on the number of points and games at the end of the week.
Draw for Monday
Morning round
First tee: 7.30am: Aorangi v Southland; 8.05am: Tasman v Taranaki.
Seventh tee: 7.30am: Manawatu-Wanganui v Wellington; 8.05am: Auckland v North Harbour.
13th Tee: 7.30am: Poverty Bay v Otago; 8.05am: Waikato v Northland.
Byes: Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay.
Afternoon round
First tee: 12.30pm: Canterbury v Manawatu-Wanganui; 1.05pm: Otago v Wellington; 1.40pm: Auckland v Northland.
Seventh tee: Hawke’s Bay v Tasman; 1.05pm: Taranaki v Aorangi
13th tee: 12.30pm: Bay of Plenty v Poverty Bay; 1.05pm: Southland v North Harbour.
Bye: Waikato
