LONDON, Ont. — Graham Hill fired a 5-under-par 67 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.
Trailing the Forest, Ont., native at 4-under are Jeffrey Clarridge of Barrie, Ont., Toronto’s Daniel Kim, Marc-Etienne Bussieres of Gatineau, Que., and Lion Kim of the U.S.
Mitch Evanecz of Red Deer was among 10 players tied for 12th after shooting a 2-under 70 that included nine-hole scores of 36-34. Jordan Krulicki (36-38) and Kyle Morrison (36-38) of Red Deer each shot 74 and were among 22 golfers tied for 74th.
Hill and Clarridge played the opening round at the London Hunt and Country Club, while Kim and Bussieres played at the Redtail Golf Course.
The Canadian amateur championship is Hill’s first competitive golf event in almost a year.
“I didn’t really know what to expect because I haven’t played competitive golf for a while,” said Hill. “I played well, made a couple of bogeys I’d like to have back, but I also left some birdies out there.”
Hill’s last competitive golf championship was the 2009 U.S. Amateur.
He won the 2005 Ontario Amateur Championship which was held at Redtail Golf Course. He will tee off for his second round there Friday.
“I know Redtail better than London Hunt,” added Hill. “It’s still early, I’m not even thinking about whether or not I can win.”
Coinciding with the stroke-play championship is the Willingdon Cup Interprovincial Team Championship.
Team British Columbia has a slim two-stroke lead into Friday’s final round after combining for a team-total 3 under.
Alberta is two strokes back, while Ontario is at 1-over.