It was a hot day with hot scoring at the inaugural Christies Floorings Mount Open on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour, with two golfers tied at the top after the opening round.

Auckland professional Sam An and North Harbour professional Chang Gi Li share the lead after scintillating rounds of nine-under par around Mt Maunganui Golf Course in the season-ending event of the tour.

Teeing off in the afternoon, An says he went out knowing that good scores were out there.

'I honestly didn't have a game plan out there. I just wanted to come out here and do my best which is all you can do. I just wanted to go and play.

'I played solid, I hit the right shots at the right time and I putted nicely. When you putt well no matter how well you play you generally come in with a pretty good score,” says a happy An.

He made nine birdies and didn't drop a single shot on his way to shooting one of the best round Mt Maunganui has ever seen.

Both he and Li lead by a single stroke over Denzel Ieremia, who made headlines last week with a top five finish in his maiden Australian Open.

Ieremia is enjoying being back on home soil after a long stint away from his friends and family.

'It's awesome to be back home, especially at the mount.

'It's nice turning up to a golf tournament that I've grown up playing around a fair bit. Although it plays a little different now which is a good thing; I guess that just means I hit it a little further and I'm playing a bit better than I once was,” says a chuckling Ieremia.

He got off to a fast start off the 13^th hole, making four birdies in his opening six holes to charge up the leader board.

Like the two leaders, he kept bogeys off his card and added another four more in his closing stretch to make sure he's right in the mix after the opening day.

'I kept very level headed the whole day. Nothing got too far away from me and when I did hit some bad shots I scrambled really nicely for pars.

'I've been eating well and just really trying to enjoy this run of form. I've been turning up every week trying to win, and I've had an aggressive mindset right from the get go and just seeing how I get on during the week.

'I just want to keep going low so I can give myself a shot at winning on Sunday,” Ieremia says.

His old Waikato team mate Luke Toomey trails by four shots after the opening day. He has the opportunity to be the first person to win three Jennian Homes Charles Tour events on the trot with a win in his own backyard, and needs to be in a three-way tie for second or better at the end of the week to pick up the season-long Jennian Homes Trophy.

In the women's event, Auckland amateur Fiona Xu has a two-shot lead after the opening round with a three-under par round of 69.

North Harbour professional Chang Gi Li.

Xu is carrying over some good form from last week where she helped guide her Auckland side to a fourth consecutive New Zealand Women's Interprovincials victory.

Xu says she's really keen to end the season on a high.

'This being the last tournament of the year, I'm keen to finish on a high note so it'd be great if I could continue this form on for the rest of the week. We played really well last week so I'm feeling really positive,” says Xu.

She says the greens were running pure and her putter was behaving, but there is more work to be done if she's going to lift the trophy on Sunday.

'Today was pleasing. I hit a lot of drives offline into the trees, so I had to scramble a lot to save some shots which I did. I made some really nice putts out there today which definitely helped.”

Play gets underway tomorrow morning from 8 o'clock.

For live scoring, please visit www.golf.co.nz

For more information, please contact jason@nzgolf.org.nz

Men's scores after round 1 - Thu 12 Dec 2019

63 Sam An (Titirangi), Chang Gi Lee (PGA New Zealand)

64 Denzel Ieremia (PGA New Zealand)

65 Jared Pender (Te Puke), Daniel Pearce (PGA New Zealand)

66 Josh Geary (PGA New Zealand), Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand), Dongwoo Kang (PGA New Zealand), Jared Edwards (Royal Auckland and Grange)

67 Jayden Ford (Judgeford), Luke Toomey (PGA New Zealand), Joseph Hancock (St Clair)

68 Daniel Freeman (Remuera), Trevor Marshall (PGA New Zealand), Joshua Bai (Akarana), Zachary May (Russley), Kieran Muir (Omokoroa), Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora), Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand), Jordan Loof (PGA New Zealand)

69 Tony Jung (Remuera), Fraser Wilkin (PGA New Zealand)

70 Harry Bateman (Muriwai), Oscar Cadenhead (PGA New Zealand), Joel Stahlhut (Australia), Sean Blomquist (PGA New Zealand), Matthew McLean (Harewood), James Watkins (Royal Wellington), Tyler Wood (Palmerston North), James Tauariki (Futures Geyserland), Scott Manyweathers (Harewood), Tomas Shaw (Remuera), Sung Jin Yeo (North Shore), Zachary Maxwell (Australia)

71 Jordan Woodall (Cambridge), Charlie Hillier (P), James Hydes (Gulf Harbour Country Club), Shaun Campbell (Hawera), Josh Smith (Ashburton), Sungwoo Han (Queenstown), Kit Bittle (Gulf Harbour Country Club), Mark Hutson (PGA New Zealand), Cameron Jones (PGA New Zealand), Thomas Woods (Miramar)

72 Mako Thompson (Maraenui), Jesper Bengtsson (North Shore), Tae Koh (Windross Farm Golf Course), Justin Morris (PGA New Zealand), Mitchell Kale (Tauranga), Stephen Liu (Pakuranga), Inia Logan (Cromwell), Hayden Beard (Mt Maunganui), Gareth Paddison (PGA New Zealand)

73 Steven Williams (Tauranga), Sam Towers (Te Awamutu), Kerry Mountcastle (Masterton), James Betts (P, Australia), Kevin Koong (Muriwai), Damian Kempson (Mt Maunganui), Mat Perry (PGA New Zealand), Craig Mitchell (PGA New Zealand), Victor Janin (Rotorua), Lachie McDonald (Marton), Nicholas Davey (PGA New Zealand), Steven Oh (Remuera)

74 Sam Howse (Australia), Andrew Henare (Napier Inc.), Charlie Smail (Walton), Sean Utley (North Shore)

75 Kyle Clark (Cromwell), Samuel Jones (Manaia), Sam Nichols (PGA New Zealand), Oak Archvarin (Riverside)

76 Jonti Philipson (Marlborough), Brent Curnow (Mt Maunganui), Luke Old (Pupuke), Mason Lee (PGA New Zealand), Ethan Jones (Manaia), John Campbell (Te Puke), Alexander Peterson (Mt Maunganui)

77 Laura Hoskin (Arrowtown), Rhys Thomas (Riverside), Matthew Fairweather (Omanu)

78 James Napier (PGA New Zealand), Sul Im (Huapai)

79 Chas Craig (Marlborough), Jarrod Millar (Whitford Park), Tim Neill (Matamata), Zack Swanwick (Napier Inc.), Tae Min Kim (Gulf Harbour Country Club)

80 Brett Peacock (Titirangi), Archie Gothard (Royal Auckland and Grange), Jack Turner (Arrowtown)

81 Brian Lee (Wainui), Liam McFarlane (Omanu)

82 Robin Yoon (North Shore)

83 Jaewoo Son (North Shore), Tim Ross (Mt Maunganui)

Scores after round 1 - Thu 12 Dec 2019

69 Fiona Xu (Akarana)

71 Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa)

72 Siyi Keh (Titirangi), Maddie May (Russley), Anna An (Muriwai), Caryn Khoo (Pakuranga), Marina Ito (Mt Maunganui)

73 Angela Ju (Pakuranga)

74 Mimi Guo (Royal Auckland and Grange)

75 Tara Raj (Wanganui), Jessica Green (Futures Geyserland)

76 Mary Chen (Remuera)

77 Darae Chung (Shandon), Grace Zhan (Maungakiekie), Yeonsoo Son (North Shore), Silvia Brunotti (Pupuke)

79 Taylor-Rose Perrett (Omanu)

80 Mia Collins (Windross Farm Golf Course), Rebekah Blackwell-Chin (Remuera), Shardae Bulkeley (Sherwood Park)

82 Danika Lee (Takapuna), Lily Griffin (Manawatu)

83 Sakura Kawakami (Futures Geyserland)

84 Amy Han (Titirangi), Zahraa Bester (Hamilton - St Andrews)