Shepparton teenager Kyle Michel has flown from the blocks to lead the men’s Australian Amateur Championship early on day one.
Michel, the recent Dunes winner after shooting some stunning low scores around his home Goulburn Valley before Christmas, is three under through his first five holes to nab a one-shot lead in the strokeplay qualifier.
Michel, 19, is one clear of a group of players including fellow Victorian Cameron John and South Australian Patric Kroschel and last year’s semi-finalist Kevin Yuan, of Sydney.
Michel began on the 10th hole at Metropolitan, with half the field at Kingswood today for the first of the two-day, 36-hole strokeplay phase.
He made birdies on the par-3 11th and 13th holes, then followed up with another on the long 14th to jump clear.
In the women’s field, Golf Australia national squad member Hannah Green has jumped to a share of the early lead at -2.
Green and former Astor Trophy-winning teammate Gennai Goodwin are the only Aussies among the five leaders on that score, alongside New Zealander Munchin Keh and Korean visitors Min-gyeong Youn and Hyun-kyung Park.