After a delayed start caused by vandalism to four greens overnight, England's Simon Dyson and Robert Dinwiddie set a fast early pace at the KLM Open in The Netherlands.
While defending champion and World Number Three Martin Kaymer struggled to three over par after ten holes, twice winner Dyson and Dinwiddie shared top spot at five under.
Dinwiddie, down in 135th place on The Race to Dubai after making just two cuts in his last 14 starts, birdied six of his first 12 holes, but drove into trouble on the next and bogeyed.
Dyson, meanwhile, eagled the par five 12th - his fourth - and finished the back nine with a hat-trick of birdies.
They led compatriot Seve Benson and Dane Anders Hansen by two.
Areas on the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth had been dug up, leading to a 45-minute hold-up while the damage was repaired.
The affected parts were marked off as ground under repair, allowing players to move balls away when necessary.
Championship director Daan Slooter said: "At this moment we do not know who caused the damage. For this evening and the rest of the tournament we have increased security substantially.
"I'm very disappointed for all the people here at the club who worked so hard over the past few days, through challenging weather conditions, to ensure the course was in playable condition.
"However, having said that, the same professionalism of the greenkeepers has ensured that the damage has been repaired so the tournament can go ahead. They are all due a huge vote of thanks."
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy were among the later starters.
Dyson and Dinwiddie had both slipped back to four under and were joined by German Marcel Siem when play had to be halted again - this time because of heavy rain on an already sodden Hilversum course,
Dinwiddie just had time to complete his 66, while Dyson had three holes to go.
“I've been playing all right,” said Dinwiddie. “I've just been missing a lot of cuts by one, two, three shots, and then the ones I have made, I've not managed to move on and have a good weekend.
“So it's not like it's all been negative. I've been feeling pretty good about most areas of my game. It just needed a little bit of tightening up here and there.
“Getting off to a good start was a big help. I holed two really good putts on the first two holes to get under par, which is not what I've been doing recently for the most part.”
When play resumed after three and a half hours conditions were much improved and at least the morning starters had high hopes of finishing.
Dyson birdied his penultimate hole and with a 65 claimed a one stroke clubhouse lead.
