first-round form to pull away from the pack on the second day of the Bermuda Goodwill Tournament yesterday.

Belmont retained their place at the top of the leaderboard and their one-stroke lead over Dedham after carding a superb net 58 at Port Royal which left them with a score of 114 at the half-way point.

Dedham, of Massachusetts, also carded 58 on the Belmont course to establish a five-stroke cushion between them and a cluster of six teams on 120.

Tying for third place are Westchester Hills, Salem, St. Louis, Metuchen, Ocean View, Upper Lake and Bedrock.

The tournament is held at four Island clubs, Port Royal, Belmont, Mid Ocean and Castle Harbour, with each team playing one round at each course.

Belmont pro Cornell Bean was delighted with the efforts of his team-mates, Chris Phillips, Wade Jerrett and David Rocha.

"We played very well today, as I think Port Royal is probably the toughest of the four courses,'' said Bean.

"Chris Phillips got five birdies and we got off to a great start when Wade Jerrett birdied the first.'' Bean felt Dedham, the team featuring Bill Foehl, his two sons Curt and Reed and professional Jimmy Noris, would pose the biggest threat over the concluding two days of the tournament.

"Dedham are very strong, but I think we've probably got the slightly easier run-in, as we'll be playing on our home course on Thursday,'' he added.

Belmont finish off on Friday at Mid Ocean, where Dedham play on Thursday. The American foursome play their last round at Castle Harbour.

The lowest score of the day was 56 from the Bedrock team led by long-time visitor Joe Carr, winner of the senior professional top prize at the Belmont Invitation last week.

Dwayne Pearman, runner-up in the Invitation, helped Ocean View stay in contention with a 57 at Castle Harbour.

Today the teams will take a break to make way for the Goodwill professional tournament at Mid Ocean Club, which offers $21,000 in total prize money, including $3,200 for the junior winner and $1,900 for the lowest-scoring senior.

Defending his title is Bill King of the Spring Lake Country Club in New Jersey.

King shot a three-under-par 68 at Port Royal last year to run away to a three-shot victory.

CORNELL BEAN -- his Belmont team hold a one stroke lead at the half-way point of the annual Goodwill Tournament.