The Indiana Golf Association opened the amateur season at The Legends of Indiana Golf Course in Franklin with the 12th annual Mid Amateur Team Championship. After the first round with a “Pinehurst” Alternate Shot format, three teams fired a 7-under-par 65 to lead the field. Joe Hayden and Thad Winter of Fort Wayne, Skip Runnels of Richmond with teammate Randy Nichols of Brookville, and Rick Hardesty and Rob Carmichael of Plymouth edged out Bill Barnes and Jerry McMullen of Carmel, who shot 66, to lead heading into Monday’s second round. All players on the 50 teams competing are Indiana amateurs who reached the age of 30 before the start of competition and possess a handicap index of 5.0 or less. Runnels and Nichols won the event in 2006 and 1998 and are chasing their third victory together. “We have played together since the inception of the event. We know each other’s game,” said Runnels. “We just played steady golf all day.” Together they made seven birdies and no bogeys on the 7,044-yard course. Also finishing with seven birdies was the team of Hayden and Winter who played as a team for the first time. Never playing together in an alternate shot format did not stop them from being successful. “I putted well today. My partner and I both hit it close, and I was making putts,” stated Winter. “We had a lot of two-putts for birdie.” He complimented the greens on being in great shape and rolling true and looks to get a lot of birdie-putt opportunities in the second round to triumph. Carmichael praised the condition of the course as well. “The greens were rolling nice, it was fair off the tee and gave me some room to work with,” he said. A combination of good conditions and great play by both partners led them to a 7-under-par 29 on the front nine. “My partner hit the driver great, and we both made putts. We just played good golf,” said Carmichael. They took birdies on five holes and an eagle on the 560-yard, par-5 sixth hole. The second and final round with a Four Ball format begins at 8:00 a.m. at The Legends of Indiana G.C. on Monday. Complete Results