Quayle, 27, shot a bogey free seven-under par round of 64 as he lit up the front nine with five birdies to close out his round to storm into the lead ahead of 17-year-old amateur Jeneath Wong and Blake Collyer.

“I got off to a pretty slow start. I think I had five pars to start in probably the calmest conditions we had all day, but I was just scrambling,” Quayle said.

“I holed a few nice par putts and kept myself in the round. Then I started making a few birdies and kept going.”

The floodgates opened for the Queenslander when he birdied the 18th – his ninth hole of the day – and not even the strong winds sweeping Rosebud could halt his charge as he proceeded to birdie every alternate hole of the front nine.

Quayle credits his mentality for being able to hang in early and cash in late.

“I’m pretty confident. Pretty settled with everything on course at the moment,” he said. 

“I’m not too concerned if I make a mistake or I’m not super excited if I do something nice. Just staying a little more in the middle ground and taking it as it is.

“I did scramble pretty well. I got a couple of nice breaks. I made a couple of nice par putts as well. My emotions aren’t going up and down too much. I’m pretty happy with where things are at.”

Victorians Wong and Collyer both sit one shot off Quayle after they carded six-under par opening rounds, but it was the high school student who captured the attention of every onlooker.

Wong has dominated junior and amateur tournaments across the country with nine victories to her name and now she has shown her brilliance first hand to a number of the nations top players. 

“It wasn’t too bad until the back nine and then the wind started picking up a bit so the game got a bit harder,” Wong said.

“I think it’s a really good experience. Especially playing with a variety of pros, even males. So I can see and learn new games, and see how they play compared to me.”

Learning is a key theme for Wong who rushed off at the conclusion of her round because she needed to return to her studies and keep her teachers happy.

“I have to go back and do homework because I’m missing a lot of school. I have to do a lot of homework,” Wong said.

The leaderboard begins to bunch up beneath Wong with New South Welshman Daniel Gale, Victorian Julienne Soo and Queenslanders Jake McLeod and Michael Wright at five-under par.

Leaderboard