Australian All Abilities Championship: Perrino and Pollard share lead after day one

Tommaso Perrino and Cameron Pollard hold a share of the lead after the opening round of the Australian All Abilities Championship in Sydney.

The season-opening event of the 2023-24 G4D Tour campaign features a 12-strong mixed field and is being held at the same time as the men’s and women’s ISPS HANDA Australian Opens take place.

Perrino, a winner on the inspirational G4D Tour during its inaugural campaign in 2022, closed his day with back-to-back birdies to card a two-under-par 69 at The Australian Golf Club.

That score was matched by Australian Cameron Pollard, who is one of five home hopes teeing it up this week alongside five of the top six on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability.

"I was holing a lot of putts, enjoying my time out on the course. It was great fun," said Pollard, who made his G4D Tour debut in this event last year.

Lachlan Wood, the number one ranked All Abilities golfer in Australia, sits in solo third after a level-par 71, two shots better off than Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor.

It was Pollard that got off to the quickest start, registering four birdies in his opening six holes before adding another at the ninth, having started off the tenth tee.

After bogeys at the first and third, he recovered those dropped shots with an eagle at the par five fifth before dropping back to two under with a double bogey at the sixth.

Perrino, who started from the first, made birdies at both the third and fourth before dropping three shots in a five-hole stretch around the turn.

He returned to level par with a birdie at the 14th before his fast finish helped him to sit alongside Pollard with the clubhouse advantage.

Wood mixed two birdies with two bogeys in his opening-day effort while Lawlor recovered from a double bogey on his opening hole to card three birdies to help see him sit four off the early pacesetters.

Defending champion Kipp Popert sits sixth on the leaderboard after a 75.