New South Wales born Matthew Wittenberg and South Australia’s Ben Hollis showed their rivals a clean pair of heels to lead by two strokes after day one of qualifying for the Australian Men’s Amateur Championship.

The pair recorded three under par 69s at Woodlands course in Melbourne to enjoy a two stroke lead over Australian National Squad member Jake Higginbottom (NSW) who shot a 1-under par 71 at Huntingdale Golf Club.

Fellow National Squad member Ryan McCarthy leads a group of five players in fourth place at even par including junior National Squad member Oliver Goss (WA) and the best of the internationals is Vaughan McCall (NZ).

Queensland’s Cameron Smith, Woodlands’ member Nathan Holman and NSW’s Daniel Bringolf are among seven players at one-over par.

The final round of qualifying takes place on Wednesday before the men’s field is cut to 64 for the elimination match play section beginning Thursday.