Simon Brownlee (Gulf Harbour) set a course record of 63 to take the lead after the first round of the South Island men's championship on the St Clair course in Dunedin yesterday.
His 8-under-par round is not the lowest on the Corstorphine course, with local stalwart Tony Giles carding a 62 in 1995.
But St Clair manager Paul Barlow said there had been many changes at St Clair over the past decade and this would be a record.
In his faultless round, Brownlee (18) made six birdies and one eagle to take a three-shot lead from Andrew Stewart (Omokoroa) and Vaughan McCall (Gore) who both finished 5-under on 66.
There is a tighter contest in the women's section, with Caroline Bon (Northland), Zoe Brake (Whakatane) and Lisa Wright (Nelson) sharing the lead on 4-under 70.
The low scoring, due to the fine weather and the excellent condition of the course, enabled 21 men and eight women to post sub-par rounds.
But the day belonged to Brownlee who set the course alight in his morning round.
He is no stranger to success at this level having won the 2009 Omanu Classic last November and finishing runner-up in the Charles Tour order of merit last year.
"It is my first time on St Clair and I really enjoyed the course and the Dunedin weather," he said.
"I am delighted with today's round as I do not usually start well in tournaments.
However, although I feel good about taking the lead, there is a long way to go and it will all be in vain if I let it go."
He began with a par four on the first hole and got "lucky" when he drove into the trees at the second only to get a good kick out.
He took advantage, playing a six iron on to the green and sinking a 6m putt for his first birdie.
Brownlee parred the next three holes before hitting a wedge to within centimetres of the cup at the sixth to go 2-under.
This was the first of four consecutive birdies.
He sank a long putt for a two at the next, holed a 3m putt at the eighth and got up and down from 50m on the ninth.
This sub-par assault continued on the 10th hole when he chipped in for an eagle three making him 6-under for the five consecutive holes.
He followed an eight-iron tee shot with a 2m putt for his final birdie on the short 13th hole.
Brownlee parred the final five holes although he squandered an opportunity on the dogleg par-five 14th when his seven-iron approach found the greenside bunker.
