Adelaide’s Blum, winner of the inaugural Athena event in 2021 but who struggled in Europe last year, surprised herself with a stunning nine-birdie round including a hole-out eagle from 55 metres at the par-4 second hole.

Two bogeys were thrown in for entertainment value, and her 62 displaces the Rosebud women’s course record of 63 set by Kirsten Rudgeley in 2021.

The 26-year-old Blum is a shot ahead of Marchesani, who reprised his opening 63 in the 2023 iteration of this tournament with the same score, featuring eight birdies and not a single blemish. The Rosebud local and New South Welshman Nathan Barbieri are tied-second at 8-under.

Justin Warren closed with four straight birdies and at 7-under is tied-third with veteran Mat Goggin, while a group of nine players is at 6-under, three shots from the lead.

Blum started out hot on the back nine and rolled in five consecutive birdies from 13 to 17.

“I knew that I wanted to take advantage of today,” she said. “The weather was always looking like it wasn’t going to be too windy, and tomorrow’s not looking that great, so I was hoping afternoon-morning (draw) would be good.

“I would definitely take that. I was very nervous beforehand. I had a chat with Mum, and it was like ‘I don’t feel great, my heart’s racing, I can’t get it under control’, but she was like ‘it’s adrenaline, it’ll be fine, just use that and trust that and the ball will go further’.

“I’ve made a few changes in my swing over the last few weeks and it’s good to see that coming to fruition.”

Scoring was low in round one with the course in near-perfect condition and no wind to speak of.

Marchesani, with 12-year-old Rosebud junior Jude Farrelly on his bag, delivered for the locals with his 8-under round.

Last year he was joint leader through the first round, staying on top into the final day only to be reeled in by South Korea’s Min A Yoon who closed with a 63.

This time, he hopes to go one better, and he has enthusiastic support from his fellow club members not to mention his mother’s home-cooked gnocchi.

He holed a couple of long putts and even when he hit his “worst shot of the day”, a pushed drive into the sandy wasteland at his last hole, the ninth on the course, he got up-and-down to save par.

“If you can do that for four days, you’re going to go a long way, because there are a lot of birdies out here,” he said. “Eight -under bogey-free first round’s a good start. Three more of those and I’ll probably go pretty close.”

McKinney was the one of his closest challengers who threatened the most.

The Western Australian had a long birdie putt from the fringe at the 18th which almost went in, and would have given him a 62 and the outright lead. He then missed from short range once, then twice for a double bogey and an opening 65.

Marchesani appreciated the support and love that was there for him.

“Everyone here wants me to play well, for good reason,” he said. “But I know if I play as good as I can, it’s going to be pretty close to winning, which it was last year. I got beaten by a better player on the week. But if I can shoot a similar score it’s going to be pretty close again.

“It’s nice to play in front of friends and family because it doesn’t happen too often. Which makes it a little bit more relaxed.”

PHOTO: Kristalle Blum bombs her drive on No. 8 today. Image: Monica Marchesani