An even-par 71 has Lill leading teenager Clayton Small by a shot, with two-time defending champion Mitch Laney a further two shots back in third.

Lill set up his round with four shots in two holes to complete the front nine.

On the eighth hole Lill hit back-to-back five irons, the second of which was from well over 100m.

Lill later admitted he didn’t see the second shot go in, but he had a good view on the ninth when he followed up his tee shot with a five-wood.

Small, who also leads the junior grade, was joined by Maitland Grossman High classmate Hayden Gulliver at the top of the leaderboard after finishing four-over on 75.

The opening round was played in stifling conditions, with more than 250 golfers across the various grades taking to the fairways.

Paul Forbes fired an 81 to lead B-grade, while in C-grade Phil Brown finished on 86.

James Saxby claimed the nett lead on a countback in A-grade on 67 ahead of Shaun Yeats.

 Mark Heagney was best in B-grade with 67, while Alan Sheehan posted 65 in C-grade.

The next two weekends see play on both Saturday and Sunday for the remaining four rounds of Maitland’s club championship.

Four players are locked in a share of the lead after the first round of the Kurri Golf Club Championship.

Anthony Lucas jnr, Ray Hodson, Ian Atkinson and Josh Stig all shot a three-over 75 on Saturday to sit atop the A-grade leaderboard.

Eleven-time A-grade champion Andrew Wyper carded a five-over 76 to be two shots off the lead, while a host of players are a further shot back at six-over.

In B-grade, Barry Dixon finished eight-over to lead Joel Carr by a shot, while Brian Jones shot 86 to lead the C-grade championship by a five-stroke margin.

Lucas  and John Barnes (66) finished with the best nett score in A-grade but the lowest nett score of the day went to Darren Matthewson in C-grade, with 62.

Kurri’s club championship will continue over the next two Saturdays.

Meanwhile Branxton’s club championship will begin next Saturday, with the 72-hole event staged over Saturday and Sunday for the next two weekends.

Fifteen-time club champion Mark Hale will be looking to continue his dominance of the club event.