Gilbert, who made his professional debut during the Asian Development Tour and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour’s Beautiful Thailand Swing in May, and Wood were both bogey free in their six-under par rounds of 66 on the Legends Course.

The Legends proved the more favourable of Moonah Links’ two offerings with none of the top 11 players beginning their tournament on the Open Course, which will host the weekend round, and Gilbert took full advantage of its early scoring opportunities.

The 23-year-old from Royal Melbourne began his ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia journey with back-to-back birdies and he reached the turn at five-under par.

Rain settled in from that point on and the wind only blew stronger, but Gilbert held his nerve against the elements.

“It’s pretty surreal. I went out there with pretty low expectations today but I’ve been playing pretty well recently,” he said. 

“The Legends Course is tough especially when the wind was blowing at I think 30 to 40 km/h out there, but I had a great time and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week.

“The first few shots were a bit scrappy but I made the most of a few good putts early on. That kind of steadied me as I was still a little bit nervous on the first tee. 

“That Legends first is straight into it off the left and you need to just get it down there. I hit a few really good golf shots, steadied myself and made sure coming home that I didn’t give up those shots.”

Wood also capitalised early in his round with an eagle at the first before making birdie at the second, fifth and sixth holes.

“It hit a lot of good shots early. The Legends presented a lot of scoring chances in the first few holes but it got a bit ugly on the back nine,” he said.

“I had to try and hit greens and make two putt pars, and I managed to do that for the rest of the round. Tomorrow, the Open Course will be a bit more demanding off the tee and trickier around the greens, but my game plan will stay the same.”

New South Wales duo Josh Armstrong and Lincoln Tighe are only a further shot back from the leaders as is Victorian Zach Murray who is paired with comedian Andy Lee in the teams event.

The teams component involves the professionals partnering up with an amateur – who plays to their handicap – and the best ball between the pair each hole counts to their score.

Armstrong and his partner Matthew Hogg are in the lead at 12-under par, while Richmond AFLW player Jess Hosking and Luke Toomey are a shot back from that.

Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell, who plays off a handicap of one, was also in the field playing with Max McCardle, while former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting caddied for Scott Arnold in the same group.

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