Heavy fog at the start of the day which returned almost as heavy as the evening closed in restricted day two of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan to just over four hours of play, enough for US-based Australian Tony Chen to think he was back home in California.

The former Riversdale and Yarra Yarra member will soon complete his final year at University of California, Berkeley and often encounters similar conditions when he plays storied courses nearby like Olympic Club, San Francisco Golf Club and Cal Club.

At Taiheiyo Club Gotemba today, Chen played 15 holes in even-par to be 1-over for the tournament, one shot behind leading Australian, Quinn Croker, who sits at even-par with seven holes left in his second round.

Japan’s Rintaro Nakano leads at 7-under-par, one stroke clear of last year’s runner-up Wenyi Ding (China).

Chen’s steady play on day two saw him join Croker at even-par until a bogey came on his final hole just before the decision was made to suspend play as the fog rolled in.

“All the good clubs in San Francisco, it's like that,” the first-time Australian representative said of the Friday weather conditions after finding his way back to the clubhouse in the dark.

“When we teed off, it was foggy. It was nothing new to me, I guess. Another day on the golf course.”

A soggy Taiheiyo Club Gotemba course has proven to be a very testing challenge for the Australian contingent which doesn’t have a player inside the top 20 heading into Saturday.

After Croker made back-to-back birdies on his third and fourth hole, a second shot on 14 ended up short and in the water, leading to a double-bogey. He birdied the next and parred his way to the end.

Defending champion Jasper Stubbs played 13 holes in 1-over today to be 3-over for the tournament, sharing 46th position.

However, four Australians – Phoenix Campbell (+1), Lukas Michel (+1), Billy Dowling (+2), Connor Fewkes (+4) – didn’t get the chance to start their second rounds and will face a marathon day three.

The Aussies are looking to join a list of Australian winners at the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba that includes Greg Norman, Roger Mackay, Graham Marsh and Brendan Jones who are previous titleholders at the Taiheiyo Masters professional tournament.

A Championship record of 40 different countries and territories teed off on Thursday, topping a previous record of 39.

Australian scores Even-par: Quinn Croker (Qld) 29 holes 1-over: Tony Chen (Vic) 33 holes; Lukas Michel (Vic) 18 holes; Phoenix Campbell (Vic) 18 holes 2-over: Billy Dowling (Qld) 18 holes 3-over: Jasper Stubbs (Vic) 31 holes 4-over: Connor Fewkes (WA) 18 holes