Former university roommates Zoltan Veress and Brian McCann set the early pace at the Gosling's Invitational at Belmont Hills.

The pair, who were at Arkansas State together, both shot four-under par 66s in yesterday's first round, putting them a shot ahead of past-winner Mike Donald (67), Bermudian Quinton Sherlock Jnr, and Jim Zwolak.

Bermuda amateur Terrance Daniels was also among the group on three-under, and he has a comfortable five-shot lead over second-placed Joshua Cabrera in the Open Flight.

In the senior division Eldon Raynor rolled back the years with a four-over par 74 to finish the day a shot-ahead of Jeffrey Lindo, and two clear of American Glenn Kelley.

On a day when the greens presented the course's best defence, and scores were generally higher than might be expected, the par-three fourth was especially taxing with an average score of 4.26 for the hole.

Not that it seemed to bother Shorty Churm too much. The Bermuda amateur had a hole in one after his tee-shot bounced off the greenside bank, hit the pin, and dropped in.

Still, the Belmont greens were the undoing of several rounds yesterday, including that of former PGA Tour professional Ken Green.

Green shot a six-over par 76 and was less than happy with his day's work, despite the fact that he is still getting used to playing with a prosthetic right leg after his car accident last year.

“There's two ways of looking at it, I've done so little (with my game), I haven't been able to do anything in terms of trying to get better.

“Once a week just doesn't fly when you're trying to make such a dramatic change. So you shoot six over and you know you threw away shots, and some putts don't go. Half of me is fuming, and the half says ‘you've got to be patient'.

“I know I should be patient, but there is that part of me that says ‘you're an absolute dope for playing that badly'. I've got to wait it out and let it come when it comes.

“I'm basically trying to restart the game of golf. It's got to be a whole new process, so I've got to learn the new swing, I've got to figure out how to hit chips, and even putting is different because I can't get the angle on my knees. Some days I'm really good, and some days I just stink, like I did today.

“You're excited about trying to improve and trying to get better, but then there's that part of you that knows what you used to be, and that part says ‘you dope how can you hit that shot'.

“It's a wild brain conversation that I have with myself, but you have to, you have to keep talking to yourself and say ‘ok, we've got to take this one step at a time.”

Like many yesterday Green had a bad day on the greens, and he said putting in Bermuda was something he had never really come to terms with.

“I hit a couple of bad shots, I was actually relatively pleased with the way I struck it, but you have to putt in this game and there is just no other way around it, and I didn't putt very well.

“I've always remembered that putting in Bermuda is always hard. Unless you are here, and I've been here a lot, but I don't know if I've ever felt like I've putted well.

“It's hard to figure it out. It's a different grass, a little mixture of that salt air, and it's beat me up pretty good over the years.”

Green will go out again tomorrow with father and son professionals Cole and Roy Willis from the US, but whether he manages to play all four days is yet to be seen.

“After my practice round, Saturday night was a pretty bad night. I got slammed two holes out there pretty bad (on Monday), so I'm really hoping I can.

“Because that's the start, that means you are getting closer to maybe actually hitting balls one day and working on the game.

“But if I was a betting man I don't think it (the leg) is going to make it. But I have been wrong about numerous things.”