Joe Horowitz and Craig Marseilles both shot course record seven-under par 63s on the opening day of the Gosling Invitational at Belmont Hills yesterday.

Defending champion Horowitz picked up where he left off last year, knocking in five birdies on the back nine to lead the professional division by a shot ahead of Kirk Hanefeld.

Former Bermuda Open champion Brian McCann is just two shots further back after carding an opening round 66.

Scott Roy meanwhile is the leading Bermuda professional in the field after a first round 68.

However it was Marseilles, competing in the Senior Professional event, who was left to wonder what might have been, insisting afterwards that he was within touching distance of the holy grail of golf, a 59.

A birdie at the first set the tone for Marseilles' round, a fine second shot to within a foot of the pin set up the chance at the beginning of the round and he never looked back.

In all the Canadian rattled off six birdies and an eagle in his round, with the only blemishes coming on the par-four 13th when he missed a relatively easy birdie chance, and on the par three 17, when he misjudged the wind and finished with a bogey.

The eagle at the par-five sixth summed up Marseilles' day. A good drive was followed by a six iron to five feet, and an easy putt which rolled right into the middle of the cup. At five-under after six holes, Marseilles seemed certain to card a good score, not that he was thinking that way.

"At that stage I'm still not thinking about the score that much, I just know that things are going good," he said afterwards. "But then I hit it to 12 feet on 10, and made it, birdied 12 with an eight-footer, and now I'm starting to think 'this is pretty good'.

"Then I hit it to six-feet on 13, hit a lousy putt, it was the first bad putt all day, all the rest had rolled right into the middle of the hole, and I just think I lost a little bit of the mojo just there.

"It was one of those great days, and a day where that magical number could of happened. If I had made that putt on 13 I was thinking about it (a 59), then I'm nine-under and I need two more birdies, it was on my mind then, but it was a great day.

"These good scores happen when things are going good, you're not worried, and you're not thinking about your score, it's just happening. Honestly, when you shoot in the low 60s you're not thinking about your score, it's just happening."

Conditions yesterday were ideal for golf but that isn't likely to be the same today, where gusting winds of between 30 and 40 mph are expected throughout the day.

"It's going to be tough," said Marseilles. "These conditions are as good as I have ever seen them here, but there won't be any 63s tomorrow (today). I always said this is the toughest 6,000-yards you're ever going to play, and it wasn't that tough today. Or it was kind of normal and I hit a lot of good shots, maybe a combination of the two."

While Marseilles was tearing up the course, Delroy Cambridge and John Brott are both within touching distance in the senior division after they shot three-under 67s.

In the amateur competition defending champion Daniel Augustus, carded a one-over 71 to take the first round lead alongside Island Games team-mate Camiko Smith. They are being pushed hard however by PHC boss Kyle Lightbourne and tournament sponsor Malcom Gosling, who both shot three-over par 73s.

Meanwhile Jeffrey Lindo is on course to defend his title in the senior amateur, but he sits top of the leaderboard with Allan E. Richardson and Glenn Kelly, after the trio all posted four-over over 74s.