Luke Buttigieg at Moonah Links, Sportal
Jim Herman has broken Robert Allenby's 2005 Moonah Links course record by a stroke, the American carding a brilliant 10-under 62 late on Thursday to lead the Moonah Classic by four shots after 18 holes.
Herman didn't start his first round until nearly 2pm and while conditions were at their toughest then with the wind up and rain falling things began to ease again within a couple of hours, leaving the course open to be plundered with the greens softened.
And plunder it Herman did just a week after he missed the cut at the New Zealand Open, the 32-year-old from Cincinnati putting together matching 31s that included five birdies each in a flawless display.
Local Andre Stolz carded the best score of the morning, a 66 that had for much of the day looked set to leave him atop the leaderboard heading into Friday morning, while Australian Paul Sheehan and American duo Jim Carter and Bobby MacWhinnie share third place on minus five.
On a day when close to half the 156-man field finished at better than even par, 12 players occupy sixth place on four under including Australians Jarrod Lyle and Aaron Townsend, Kiwi Gareth Paddison, American Darron Stiles and Canadian Jon Mills.
New Zealand Open runner-up Andrew Dodt and his fellow Australians Scott Laycock and Steve Allan are among those at three under while local veterans Mark Hensby and Stephen Leaney both carded 70s to be tied for 32nd on two under.
Dual Australian Open champion Peter Lonard, making his second start since returning from a two-month injury layoff at the course where he won the first of those two Stonehaven Cups in 2003, shot 71 to be level with defending champ Alistair Presnell and last-start NZ Open winner Bob Gates.
American journeyman Bob May carded a 72 along with Australian Gavin Coles while 2008 champion Ewan Porter, who won that year by a staggering seven shots, had a day to forget as he shot 74 to sit alongside Peter O'Malley and Steve Alker.
After a solid start that included a birdie at the 11th hole Herman exploded with four more in five holes to suddenly threaten the lead Stolz had held for several hours and he kept running hot coming home by picking up five more shots in seven holes from the 2nd.
Allenby's amazing 63 came in the opening round of the Australian Open in late 2005 and having gone on to win the tournament Herman will be hoping he can do likewise, with his best finish since turning pro in 2005 a tie for third at last year's New Zealand Open.
Stolz, who won the 2004 Michelin Championship in Las Vegas but whose career has been affected in recent years by a chronic wrist injury, peeled off four birdies in seven holes from the 12th tee but said after his round that he could have birdied every hole to the turn if his putting had been better.
The 39-year-old, who also missed the cut at The Hills last week, added three more birdies on the front nine with only a lone bogey at the 3rd when he drove his tee shot into a bunker costing him a 65 but overall he was well pleased with his day's work.
"I hit my drive good, I just hit it too good and it just got to the bunker through the fairway on the 3rd there," Stolz said. "It's always an awkward tee shot."
"I actually had a three wood out and I thought 'no I'll just hit a little nice smooth driver' and I just hit it too good."
"I ended up coming up just around the front there and I had about a six-footer for par which I missed (but) other than that it was pretty solid."
Sheehan and Carter both got to six under at one point - the latter playing alongside Stolz - but with the wind picking up around midday both dropped late shots while MacWhinnie closed with five successive pars after making four-straight birdies from the 1st.
Mills had recovered from an early bogey at the 11th with four birdies to the turn and an eagle and two more birdies on the front nine but consecutive bogeys at the 6th and 7th saw him slip from level with Stolz and in the lead to well back.