Queensland’s Aaron Pike has a love for the Launceston Golf Club and the relationship grew even stronger with an opening round of 7-under-par 65 on day one of the 2025 Tasmanian Open.

Pike is a huge fan of the slopy greens at Kings Meadow which leads to precision more than power being the key factor to score low and he had nine birdies on the way to establishing a one-shot lead to take into the weekend.

His nearest challenger is Tasmanian Simon Hawkes, who won his state open nine years ago and produced two eagles in his 66 – a two at the 242m par-4 first and a three at the 508m par-5 10th.

Matias Sanchez and Connor McDade (69) share third while defending men’s champion Alex Edge is six back in a tie for eighth after an opening 71.

Meanwhile, Victorian Grace Yang leads the women’s Open by three shots after starting with an even-par 73 that featured six birdies.

Beginning his round from the 10th tee, Noosa-based Pike was 1-under through his first five holes, including a double-bogey six after hitting a tee shot out of the bounds at the 11th, before he produced a charge with three consecutive birdies on holes 15-17.

Another trifecta came from the first to the third to move the burly Queenslander to 6-under through 12 holes.

Although he bogeyed the par-4 fifth, Pike quickly bounced back by picking up shots on his next two holes.

“The round was a little bit indifferent. I probably got a bit lucky with a couple of drives staying in-bounds but I managed to keep the ball under the hole and holed a lot of putts," Pike said.

“It’s probably been 20 years since I’ve played here and I don’t remember much of the course. I’m loving it. I love these older style golf courses that we have in Australia and fast, slopy greens which make you think about your putting.

“I really love that you have to think about where you want to position your ball on the green. A 10-footer under the hole can be better than a four or five-footer above the hole.

“You have to play it smart.”

Round two of the Tasmanian Open will get underway at 8.30am on Saturday.

Leading scores

Men

1 Aaron Pike 65

2 Simon Hawkes 66

T3 Connor McDade 69

T3 Matias Sanchez 69

T5 Will Bruyeres 70

T5 Caleb Bovalina 70

T5 Lachlan Aylen 70

Women

1 Grace Yang (a) 73

2 Mackenzie Thomas (a) 76

T3 Riko Danjo (a) 81

T3 Larissa Dobson (a) 81

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