In conditions better suited to his big-hitting rivals, Gulliver mastered the course with his excellent short game to lead from A-grade pennants captain Chris Burdekin on 71 and 2014 champion teenager Clayton Small who shot a 72 on Saturday.

Another former champion Mitch Laney is a further two shots back on 74.

Maitland Golf Club captain Rick Marsh said it was one of the most even starts to the championships in recent years and bode well for an exciting competition this year.

“The big moving days are this weekend’s two rounds and hopefully the course will have dried up a bit for Saturday and Sunday’s rounds,” Marsh said. 

“The rain we had left the fairways and rough pretty soft so it favoured the bigger hitters such as Chris and Clayton a lot more on Saturday.

“They can get the distance off the tee without having to rely on the bounce to carry their shot on.

“Hayden is not as big a hitter as the other two,.but he has an excellent short game. He is constantly working on his chipping and putting around the greens.

“I think he spends more time here than he does at home. 

“Hayden and Clayton spend a lot of time travelling together to play the amateur tournaments and they showed the benefits of how much work they put in.

“Chris is an excellent golfer and has been out a lot more practising in the lead up to this year’s event.

“Mitch Laney is another former champion who will be very much in the mix for this year’s title.”

Gulliver, who turns 22 this month, is aiming for his professional card and won his his first A-grade title in 2015.

Small was just 14 when he won the 2014 A-grade title, writing himself into the history books as the youngest winner of the title in Maitland Golf Club’s long history.

Going into day two of the titles on Saturday, Steve Woodson leads B Grade on 79 shots and . Daniel McClure set up a big lead in C-grade with 77.