Anstiss on top in Australia

The morning belonged to James Anstiss at the Oates Victorian Open after his round of eight birdies and zero bogeys set alight the 13th Beach Golf Links Golf Course.

Playing in just his second professional event, he claims a share of the lead with local David Branson after the first round in the lucrative $650,000 event.

"I played pretty solid, I hit a lot of greens and putted really well," said Anstiss who made his Professional debut at the REBEL Sport NZ Masters in January.

"I hit 16 greens, made a couple of 15 footers and hit a few close, it was pretty stress free I didnt really do much wrong.

"I had one really good par save on our 9th hole which was the 18th and the rest from there I made pretty easy for myself."

Not far behind is fellow rookie-pro Nick Voke who also showed his talent with a total of seven-under par. His round consisted of one eagle, six birdies and even one bogey on his way to a share of third place.

Voke made his first eagle on the second hole before making three birdies in a row to ignite his round. The Auckland professional then continued this form with a birdie, par, birdie start to the back nine which got heads turning.

"Its nice to get off to a good start, as a rookie-pro its really important for me, I dont exactly have all the finances in the world so its imperative to get off to a good start and hopefully I can kick on with it," said Voke who spent most of his young golfing career playing in the NCAA with Iowa State.

This is all very positive signs as they start prepping for their debut ISPS Handa New Zealand Open as professionals in just under a month.

Harry Bateman will feel hard done by after carding a clinical round of six-under to still be two behind Anstiss. He too came out firing after being five-under through the turn, before two bogeys cost him.

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Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Ryan Fox has also had a good day at the Maybank Championship after recording a steady round of four-under par to be in a share of eighth.

The longest hitter on the European Tour made six birdies with just two blemishes showing his class to bounce back after missing the cut last weekend.

He is currently three shots behind the leader Chris Paisley with plenty of golf to be played throughout the evening.

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- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ