Yorkshire pair Adrian Ambler and Aran Wainwright proved the 'A' team at Forest Pines by blowing the field away in the first round of the SkyCaddie PGA Fourball Championship supported by Sunderland.
Ambler and Wainwright, PGA pros at Walton Golf Centre, Wakefield, and Mid Yorkshire Golf Club, Pontefract, respectively, set a scorching pace by carding a 13-under-par round of 60.
The total put them four strokes clear of the 60-strong field and in pole position to claim the £5,000 first prize on offer in the £30,000 tournament.
Ambler's round included nine birdies and an eagle at the 501-yard fifth hole on the Forest leg at the Lincolnshire resort and golf club while his partner weighed in with five birdies.
The duo recorded just one bogey between them - on the 210 yard 16th - and Ambler said: 'We were in the game at most holes. That meant we both had birdie chances and could go for them.
"Thankfully the greens were in superb condition, so was the rest of the course, and that helped us. Now we've got to keep it up over the next two days."
Should the duo falter in either or both the final two rounds, Graham Cox and Anthony Millar (Lymm Golf Club) or David Smith (Swinton Park) and Mark Hancock (Stand Golf Club) are best placed to overhaul them.
Both pairs carded nine-under-par totals of 64 over the Forest and Pine legs of the 27-hole complex while a six-strong posse of pairs lie joint-fourth after rounds of 65.
Meanwhile, Forest Pines pair Danny Greenwood and Matt Peacock found that home advantage counted for little and face a battle to make the cut for Friday's final round after a five-under-par 68.
"The score is a lot better than the way we played," admitted Greenwood. "We had to scramble for that and the main goal is to make the cut and represent the hotel over all three days."
07 October, 2009