Kristopher Mueck has fired a course record at Remuera Golf Club to lead early at the Holden NZ PGA Championship.

Playing in the second group out on course in the morning field Mueck took advantage of the conditions to fired an 8-under 64.

"The last seven holes I managed to make a few birdies and sneak an eagle in there so it was nice to finish in that fashion," said Mueck who is doubtful his course record will stand for long.   

"There is a long way to go and there are a lot of good players here. So I think there is potential for it to be broken again, but it’s another feather in the cap."

Limited preparation on the Auckland layout doesn’t seem to have affected Mueck who has been in good form recently finishing T3 at the Victorian PGA Championship.

"I think not having played it was probably an advantage," added Mueck.

"You don’t really know where the danger is too much."

"With the narrow fairways it’s good to be able to narrow your focus off the tee, the greens are quite big so it’s pretty tricky to get near the pins sometimes."

He currently has a two shot lead from New Zealander Josh Geary and hopes to maintain his lead over the next three days.

"I was leading the Vic Open and finished 35th or something like that so obviously leading after round one doesn’t mean much," added Mueck who also lead the Oates Vic Open following the first round.

"Obviously as you get in this position more you get more experienced, hopefully I have learnt."   

The other highlight of the day belongs to NZ Open defending champion Dimitrios Papadatos who aced the par-3 8th at Remuera Golf Club.

"I hit 7-iron and mid-flight I said ‘please be a tap in’ and Pratty (Kieran Pratt) actually said ‘nah that’s going in’.

"They started clapping behind the green so I guessed it went in."

"I was pretty happy with myself. The way I was playing today, I didn’t really expect that."

Having struggled in the first round Papadatos the hole-in-one helped him finish the day at even par.

"I was putting quite poorly so I thought I might as well knock that one in, thought it might be easier," joked Papadatos.

"I wasn’t exactly in a good mind frame; I made quite a lot of bogeys prior to that so I was just happy to have made good connection with the way I was playing."

The afternoon field are now on course.

Related Links

Scores / Holden NZ PGA Championship Leaderboard