Mullard blows away women at Mid-Am

Paul Gregory, who plays on his home course at the Vines Golf Club in Reynella, is in a ninth day after a tight men's Mid-Am ranking.

If there were any nerves about the defense of the Australian Mid Amateur title of Louise Mullard, there was no evidence to support it on the first day in South Australia.

The New South Wales star was nothing less than sensational in carding a three-on-par 74 in the picturesque Vines Golf Club in Reynella south of Adelaide to lead by no less than 12 strokes.

Mullard, who represents the Morisset Golf Club in the south of Newcastle, almost certainly scored the result with only one bird against only four bogeys to score.

But on the side of the gentlemen, it is a very different story with 24 players within four shots of the lead.

The best score of one day at 73 was shared by New Zealander Dale Clarke, Tasmanian Greg Longmore and Phil Chapman, member of the nearby Aston Hills Golf Club at Mt Barker.

Chapman, one of the leaders, was the player who finished his round best with a birdie-birdie finish to shoot forward when the others found the back nine harder than the front.

The foremost nine appears to be the most likely to create holes in the field with two reachable par-fives – the first and ninth – which together gave up 53 birds and four eagles on day one.

The Australian Mid-Amateur Championship is played over 54 holes between players aged 30-54.

SCOREBOARDS