KEY POINTS:
An early tee time paid off for two of New Zealand's leading amateurs at the New Zealand Open yesterday.
Starting in comparatively calm conditions, Aucklander Leighton James and James Gill (Waikato) recorded two-over 73s, the best amateur scores of the day.
James, who was reserve for the Eisenhower Trophy team this year, teed off at 7am and was one under after 12 holes.
Gill, a member of the Eisenhower team, was 10 minutes behind James and also got to one under before dropping three shots in the closing holes.
The two amateurs are tied in 62nd place with a chance of making the top 70. The cut is made tonight.
Top amateur in the Open wins the Bledisloe Cup. Last year's winner, Josh Geary, is playing as a professional.
Others to enjoy their morning rounds included Muriwai golfer Jacques Nortje, who had a triple on the 417m 14th but still shot 74, a score matched by Mark Boe who is back in New Zealand after a spell in Australia. New Plymouth's Troy Ropiha and Kevin Budden from Waitemata had 74s in the afternoon.
The youngest player in the field, 15-year-old Seve Ha from the Akarana Club, shot a four-over 75, as did North Harbour representative Scott Wightman from Muriwai.
