Clarksburg, ON (My Sportsbook) - Kyle Reifers fired an 11-under-par 61 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the Wayne Gretzky Classic.
Play is split over the par-72 layout at Raven Golf Club and the par-71 Georgian Bay Club for the first two rounds. Reifers established a new course record at Raven Golf Club on Thursday.
Roger Tambellini shot an eight-under 64 at Raven for second place. Craig Bowden and J.J. Killeen managed seven-under 65s at Raven, while Jason Enloe carded a seven-under 64 at Georgian Bay to share third place.
Reifers parred his first three holes and broke into red figures at the par- five fourth. He reached the green in two with a six-iron and two-putted from 15 feet.
He sank a 13-foot birdie putt at five and a four-foot eagle putt at the par- five sixth. Reifers converted three birdie putts in a row from the seventh with the longest coming from 18 feet at the seventh.
Reifers collected his second eagle of the round at the par-five 10th. He hit a five-iron to seven feet and made the putt, then holed a 25-foot birdie putt at 11.
That birdie at the 11th meant Reifers went 10-under par through Nos. 4-11.
"I'm the type of person that thrives on going really low," said Reifers. "The way I see it, it's all positive, there's nothing to be fearful of. Once I get it going out there, I just want to see how low I can go."
Reifers' run ended with a thud at 12. He three-putted for a bogey, but back- to-back birdies at 16 and 17 gave Reifers the first-round lead.
"I didn't get ahead of myself out there," said Reifers. "Obviously if you have that many circles on the card things are going well, I just focus on trusting what I have going on. I knew I was swinging it well so I kept thinking about where I was going to put my next shot."
Brenden Pappas posted a six-under 65 and is alone in sixth place.
Ron Whittaker, Chris Nallen, Ryan Armour, Justin Bolli, Josh Broadaway, D.J. Brigman, David McKenzie, David Branshaw, Brian Smock, Chris Baryla, Michael Arnaud and Mauricio Molina share seventh at minus-five.
Defending champion Justin Hicks shot a three-over 75 and is tied for 144th.
