A former PGA Tour player who now coaches at Lakelands Golf Club and Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club in between PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments, Sim’s round of 7-under 65 was two strokes better than Damien Jordan and Sam Brazel with rounds of 67. Next best were Tim Hart, Daniel Gale and Redcliffe Pro-Am winner Doug Klein who all shared third spot with rounds of 4-under 68.

Top-five at the Victorian PGA and NSW Open earlier this year, Sim dissected the River Course with precision, playing into the right positions in the fairway and then attacking the flags with his wedge game.

“I like playing around here, this course suits my game,” said Sim. “You can’t really power it around this course, you have to be strategic.

“You need to have a good wedge game and today I played a lot of good wedge shots.”

Starting on the 10th hole, Sim shot out of the blocks early with birdies on holes 12, 14 and 15 before dropping a shot on the 171-metre par-3 17th hole.

There were three more birdies on holes 18, three and six along with an eagle on the 463m par-5 first set up by a 5-iron to 12 feet.

The next event on the adidas Pro-Am Series is the BMD Howeston Pro-Am on Wednesday.