MANCHESTER, Maine — Brian Agee is first alphabetically among the 144 golfers in the Charlie’s Maine Open.
It’s his first time in Maine. He’s been assigned to the first group of the opening day in both tournaments during his visit.
And in keeping with the theme, he’s the first name on the leaderboard, topping Monday’s opening round at Augusta Country Club with a 6-under 64.
“I played in the Greater Bangor Open. I leave here and go to New Hampshire,” Agee said. “It’s really pretty up here. I’ve enjoyed the trip and the golf course. This golf course is a lot of fun.”
Agee, 38, of Leesburg, Virginia, leads Eric Beringer of Deerfield Beach, Florida, Patrick Pelletier of Lebanon, New Hampshire, and David Hilgers of Hershey, Pennsylvania, by a single stroke.
All four leaders played a bogey-free round on a 6,214-yard Augusta layout that produced similar red numbers in a rain-shortened event a year ago.
“The greens were in really good shape,” Beringer said. “As long as you were below the hole, it made it easy to be aggressive with putts.”
Forty-four players are under par and will wake up Tuesday morning with a legitimate chance to win the tournament if they can match or go lower than Agee’s opening round.
There is a seven-way tie — Steven Smith, Erik Mahany, Andrew Rauscher, Colin Brennan, Jesse Larson, Burgess Houston and Jamison Randall — two shots back at 66.
“It has its own set of challenges. Just because the course is shorter doesn’t mean it can’t bite you,” Agee said of Augusta, which is hosting the tournament for the fourth consecutive summer. “The greens have a significant amount of movement in them, more than we have at home. Our courses at home are well over 7,000 yards. You have big surfaces to hit to. Out here there are smaller surfaces and tree-lined fairways and slopey greens, and you’ve got to be in the right spots.”
Shawn Warren of Cape Elizabeth, an assistant pro at Falmouth Country Club and the 2004 Maine Open winner as an amateur, is in a logjam at 67 that includes defending champion Andrew Mason and Greater Bangor Open winner Jon McLean.
Jason Parajeckas, Ryan Zylstra, Eric Atsma, Mark Purrington, Brian Bergstol, Nick Antonelli, Sean Gaudette and Matthew Loubier of Waterville also are 3-under.
Agee and Beringer started on the No. 10 tee and birdied 11 together.
“We played pretty similar rounds. We were both stroking it really well. We made a couple of putts. We were feeding off each other nicely,” Beringer, a Pennsylvania native, said. “It definitely helps to see somebody else. To see a few putts start falling helps you have confidence that your putts are going to start falling.”
After Agee made it back-to-back birdies at 12, Beringer rolled one in at 16.
Both birdied 18 to make the turn at 3-under.
“The greens are receptive, rolling nice,” Agee said. “The ball sits in the fairway for you, too. It’s good.”
Agee built his lead with consecutive birdies at 3, 4 and the 546-yard, par-5 fifth hole. Beringer bookended his back nine with birdies at 1 and 9.
Hilgers got off to a similarly quick start with birdies at 10 and 12. He also sank putts at 3, 5 and 7. Pelletier made his run with birdies in succession at 18, 1 and 2.
Smith and Brennan were bogey-free members of the pack at 66. Larson notched seven birdies.