Aaron Cox and Andrew Schonewille have set the course alight in Barham, sharing the overnight lead in the 61^st Border Open at 9-under.

Cool and calm conditions were on order for the morning players at the 61^st running of the Border Open at cluBarham on the Murray River today.

National Pro-Am Order of Merit leader Peter Wilson jumped out of the blocks.  Hitting off the 11^th hole he opened with a birdie and with two more on the 16^th and 17^th he made the turn 2-under the card.  Wilson continued to press with two further birdies before almost acing the Par3 10^th, the tap in birdie giving him a 5-under 68.

Jack Wilson made the turn in 1-under 36 before catching fire on the back-9. Birdies on 1 and 16 and an eagle on 14^th saw him shoot 32 coming in to finish tied with Peter Wilson at 5-under 68.

Chris Gaunt soon went one better.  In a round that featured six birdies and an eagle he soon took the lead signing for a 6-under 67.

However the story of the morning came from Gardiners Run Golf club’s Head Professional Aaron Cox.  Known for his flashy pants he backed it up today with a sensational 9-under 64.  Cox opened with a bogey on the Par 3 3^rd and immediately hit back with a birdie on the next.  Three further birdies on the front-9 saw Cox a 3-under as he headed to the back-9.  That’s when his hot streak started birdies on the next five holes saw him get to 8-under the card and the outright lead.  After a good tee shot on the 18^th he tapped for his 10^th birdie of the day and the best morning score of 9-under 64.

The hot scoring continued in the afternoon with Scott Laycock in hot pursuit getting to 5-under through his first eight holes.  It was some costly bogeys on the way in that saw him finish at 1-under 71.

Andrew Kelly rode the roller coaster all afternoon. In a round that featured on five Pars, nine birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey he finished on 3-under 70.

Tom Power Horan was the next best of the afternoon field with a back-9 33 and a front-9 36 Power Horan finished five shots behind Cox on 4-under 69.

The round of the day must go to young Andrew Schonewille.  Starting his round from the 18^th he opened with consecutive Pars before an eagle three on the Par 5 2^nd. A birdie on the 5^th and another eagle on the Par 5 7^th saw him make the turn at 5-under with three more short Par fives to come.  He managed to birdies on 10, 12 and 14 before making his way to the Par 5 16^th and his last chance for an eagle.  Leaving his eagle putt short he tapped in for the easiest of birdies to join Cox on 9-under.  His approach to the 17^th, his last hole left him with a six-foot putt for birdie and the outright lead.  His putt lipped out and he was left with a bogey free round and a share of the overnight lead.

Second round action in Barham kicks off at 7.15am on Sunday with the leaders teeing off at 12.15pm for what is surely going to be an exciting finish to the 61^st Border Open.