An amateur and two professionals sit atop the leaderboard after the opening round at The Carrus Open on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour.

Trent Munn, Ryan Chisnall, and Jared Pender all took advantage of the beautiful conditions at Tauranga Golf Club to shoot eight-under par to lead a bunched leaderboard going into round two.

Munn fired the best round of his amateur career to set the early pace. He opened with a string of pars before making three birdies on the trot from the sixth and made the turn at three-under par.

He came home strong making five more birdies to shoot 62 and take the early clubhouse lead.

Munn says it was a rewarding feeling walking off the final green on Thursday.

'This is the best round I've ever shot in a tournament, and in general for that matter.

'To beat my best ever score by three is hugely satisfying. I don't really know what to say,” he explains.

The 25-year-old's short game was the key to his success today. He says he gave himself a lot of chances on the greens because of his stellar wedge play and looks forward to doing much the same over the next few days.

'I pitched it really well today. I didn't necessarily drive it very well, but I missed it in all of the right spots which helped. I hit a few really nice iron shots and rolled the ball really nicely.

'Being up near the lead is fairly new for me. I'm just going to go out there tomorrow and do the same thing as today which is having lots fun. I'm going to enjoy it.

'The game plan is just to have fun,” Munn smiles.

Joining Munn up the top this afternoon was Ryan Chisnall who is starting to make a bit of a habit of being in the lead at Jennian Homes Charles Tour events.

Ryan Chisnall.

Chisnall got off to a hot start making five birdies in his opening eight holes. His form carried over to his second nine where he made another five birdies along with a bogey at the 10th to sign for 62.

He says the course really suits his style of play.

'It was lovely out there today. I got off to a quick start with five birdies in the opening eight holes and kind of plotted along after that.

'It's one of those courses where if you stick to the game plan plenty of birdies will come your way and if you're holing putts it's easy to have a good score,” he says.

Chisnall has won on the tour once at the Harewood Open back in 2014. After coming close numerous times in recent memory, he says he is in good stead to put up a good challenge this week.

'I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. This isn't my first time being in the mix at a Jennian Homes Charles Tour event, I've been in contention during the last couple of events so hopefully I've learnt a few things from those.

'I'm just looking forward to playing tomorrow, it's a lovely course and like I said, there are plenty of low scores to be had this week so I'm just going to have to keep the foot down and make some more birdies,” Chisnall says.

Jared Pender is no stranger to the Tauranga Golf Club, and his experience paid dividends today.

Like Chisnall, Pender is starting to make a habit of contending in Jennian Homes Charles Tour events in the Bay of Plenty, and he isn't sure what his secret is.

Jared Pender.

'I would say early starts with the kids, but I don't think that's it. It must be something in the air,” he laughs.

Pender started strong opening with a birdie at the first. After a bogey on the second, he added four more birdies on his opening round to make the turn at four-under par.

He made four more birdies on the back nine to join Munn and Chisnall at the top.

He says his game is in good shape.

'I didn't hit it great, but I managed to hole a couple of really good putts and when I missed it I missed it in all of the right spots. I know the course really well but haven't got out here much since I've been out at Te Puke.

'It's the kind of course you only need to play a couple of times to get used to it. I felt really comfortable on the greens and I think this is the best I've seen them.

'The course is in great condition; I think it's the best I've seen it in a long while,” he says.

They lead a packed leaderboard where 55 players shot sub-par rounds.

The women are sure to feature later in the week in the mixed gender event, with Eunseo Choi, Darae Chung, and Munchin Keh just a couple of shots back at six-under.

Play gets underway today from 7.30am.

Scores after round 1 - Thu 8 Oct 2020

62 Trent Munn (Manawatu), Jared Pender (Te Puke), Ryan Chisnall (PGA New Zealand)

63 Matthew Morris (Royal Wellington)

64 Darae Chung (Shandon), James Hydes (Gulf Harbour Country Club), Munchin Keh (P), Woonchul Na (PGA New Zealand), Mitchell Kale (Tauranga), Eunseo Choi (Takapuna), Hiroki Miya (Russley)

65 Josh Geary (PGA New Zealand), Dongwoo Kang (PGA New Zealand), Jim Cusdin (Tauranga)

66 Jimmy Zheng (Howick), Daniel Pearce (PGA New Zealand), Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand), Sam An (Titirangi), Harry Bateman (PGA New Zealand), Sam Vincent (Riverside), Cameron Harlock (Royal Auckland and Grange)

67 Michael Hendry (PGA New Zealand), Cameron Jones (PGA New Zealand), Kerry Mountcastle (Masterton), Peter Fowler (PGA New Zealand), Tae Koh (Windross Farm Golf Course), Jesper Bengtsson (North Shore), Lachie McDonald (Marton), David Kim (Akarana)

68 Fiona Xu (Titirangi), Jerry (Xiangming) Ren (P, Gulf Harbour Country Club), Kit Bittle (Gulf Harbour Country Club), Daniel Hillier (PGA New Zealand), Caerwyn Ross (Paraparaumu Beach), Aileen Du (Remuera), Jayden Ford (Judgeford), Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora), Shaun Campbell (Omanu), Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand), Hayato Miya (Russley), Tyler Wood (Palmerston North)

69 Luke Toomey (PGA New Zealand), Connor Barker (Remuera), Ethan Jones (Manaia), Charlie Smail (Walton), Karan Nalam (Royal Auckland and Grange), Hayden Beard (PGA New Zealand), Joshua Bai (Akarana), Jordan Golding (Omanu), Trevor Marshall (PGA New Zealand), Daniel Freeman (Remuera), Chang Gi Lee (PGA New Zealand), Troy Ropiha (PGA New Zealand), Misong Jang (North Shore), Samuel Jones (Manaia)

70 Taylor Gill (PGA New Zealand), Stephen Liu (Whitford Park), Logan Madden (Morrinsville), Mako Thompson (Maraenui), Sung Jin Yeo (PGA New Zealand), Fraser MacLachlan (PGA New Zealand), Kieran Muir (Omokoroa), Martin Pettigrew (PGA New Zealand), Kunaal Singh (Whitford Park), Jaeseung Na (Whitford Park), Jordan Loof (PGA New Zealand)

71 Logan Hooper (North Shore), Kevin Koong (Muriwai), Jack Turner (Arrowtown), Luke Brown (PGA New Zealand), Gareth Paddison (PGA New Zealand), Momoka Kobori (Rangiora), Rianne Li (Akarana), Fraser Wilkin (P, PGA New Zealand), Dominic Brettkelly (Hororata), Amy Im (Pupuke), James Watkins (Royal Wellington)

72 Joshua Cassin (Pukekohe), Zachary May (Russley), Jared Edwards (Royal Auckland and Grange), James Anstiss (PGA New Zealand), Joshua Morris (Taupo), Anna An (Muriwai), Steven Williams (Tauranga), Kyle Wong (Titirangi), Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa), Thomas Woods (Miramar), Mark Hutson (PGA New Zealand)

73 Zahraa Bester (Hamilton - St Andrews), Nick Loach (PGA New Zealand), Angus Findlay (Manawatu), James Tauariki (Futures Geyserland), Nathan Clark (Tauranga), Wenyung Keh (P)

74 Hanee Song (P), Dave Cooke (Tauranga), Jonathan Park (North Shore), Chas Craig (Marlborough), Rhys Thomas (Futures Waikato), Alexander Yap (North Shore), Jason Mann (PGA New Zealand), Jordan Pruden (Waitikiri), Kahu Tataurangi (Remuera)

75 Liam McFarlane (Omanu), Jessica Huang (Pakuranga), Mason Lee (PGA New Zealand), Maddie May (Russley), Gabriel Whincop (PGA New Zealand), Giles La Ville (North Shore)

76 Ing Iadpluem (Futures Waikato), Laura Hoskin (P), Robby Turnbull (Remuera), Harry Ward (Paraparaumu Beach), Sieun Ha (North Shore), Damian Kempson (Mt Maunganui), Alanna Campbell (Omanu), Tim Ross (Mt Maunganui), Jordan Woodall (Cambridge), Archie Gothard (Royal Auckland and Grange), Kyle Clark (Cromwell), Shinju Aoki (North Shore)

77 Paxton Jones (Royal Wellington), Michael Hobman* (Helensville), Mimi Guo (Royal Auckland and Grange), Will O'Connor (Royal Wellington)

78 Grace Zhan (Maungakiekie), Amy Han (Titirangi), Taylor-Rose Perrett (Omanu), Towa Usui (Maungakiekie), Sam Reese (Gulf Harbour Country Club)

79 Joseph Hancock (St Clair), Kyle Maihi (P, Royal Auckland and Grange), Jessica Green (Wainui)

82 Tom Parker (Christchurch)

83 Siyi Keh (P), Henry Spring (Whakatane)

84 Luke Ho (North Shore), Daniel Newman (P, Helensville), Michael Zhu (P, PGA New Zealand)

88 Robin Yoon (North Shore)

0 Johnny Tynan (Titirangi)

83 Victor Janin (Rotorua)