Two rounds of 68 lead the first round at the 43rd Iowa Senior Amateur at The Preserve Golf Course on Rathbun Lake. Gene Elliott, of West Des Moines and Tim McKnight, of Indianola are the leaders heading into the second round.

Elliott was the first to post 68 and finished with a bogey-free scorecard. The key to success for Elliott was birdies on the par-fives. He played the par-fives at four-under par and missed his chance to birdie all of them with a putt on hole 18.

McKnight played his first nine at one-under par but stepped on the gas once he turned to the back-nine. Birdies on 11, 14 and 17 pushed McKnight into a tie with the Iowa Golf Hall of Famer and the two competitors will tee it up together in tomorrow’s second round.

In third place after day one is Tom Christensen, of Waterloo. Christensen posted a three-under round of 69 and sits one shot behind the leaders. Norwalk’s Mike McCoy and Joe Palmer will play together tomorrow after posting two-under ton Thursday afternoon.

Fort Madison’s, Jim Butler holds a two-shot lead heading into the second round of the Super Senior Division. The 69-year-old posted a round equal to his age today and recorded five birdies. Butler got off to a quick start with three birdies in his first four holes. An even 36 on his back nine kept him from running away with the tournament early.

Tied for second place is Dan Dalziel, of Cedar Rapids, and Pete Kelly, of Marshalltown. The two fired rounds of 71 and will play alongside Butler in tomorrow’s round. Dalziel was two-over through his first six holes but continued to fight and ended his round in red-figures. Kelly started making birdies quick after three in his first six holes, but three bogeys on the back-nine set him back two shots.

A four-way tie for fourth place round out the top-five between Sam Aossey, of Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown’s Pat Ryan, Polk City’s Joe Ward and Bruce Neeley, of Independence. All four competitors carded rounds of 72 and sit three-shots back.

ACE ALERT – Lineville’s Jay Gregory (above) recorded a hole-in-one today on #13.

Senior Division
T1. Gene Elliott -4 68
T1. Tim McKnight -4 68
3. Tom Christensen -3 69
T4. Mike McCoy -2 70
T4. Joe Palmer -2 70

Super Senior Division
1. Jim Butler -3 69
T2. Dan Dalziel -1 71
T2. Pete Kelly -1 71
T4. Sam Aossey E 70
T4. Pat Ryan E 70
T4. Joe Ward E 70
T4. Bruce Neeley E 70