By David Tease, Golf NSW

An incredible eight straight birdies on the back nine at Pennant Hills Golf Club has vaulted state representative Chris Fan to the top of the leader board after the opening round of the 2023 NSW Medal. In a showtime performance, the 22-year-old from Avondale Golf Club began his birdie rampage on the 10th, and maintained the run right to the last where he could only get up and down for par to leave the rest of the field in his wake at 8-under par. Not to be outdone, Newcastle-based junior Jake Riley, who sits at 6-under, also carved out an impressive seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch to leave himself within striking distance of Fan just two shots back. England's Arron Edwards-Hill and Victorian Nathan Page are another shot back at 5-under par. They were joined late in the day By Queensland's Lincoln Morgan, who carved out an impressive 65, including a withering five-under run home on the front nine after beginning his day on the 10th, While the Harrys - Bolton and Petersen - are at four under. Fan, however, was the man of the moment with his incredible run of red numbers. He admitted he did not see it coming after moderate form at the Australian Amateur and the Avondale Amateur in his past two starts. "It's a first time," Fan said. "I managed to get on a roll early in the back nine and rode it out. It was pretty awesome to go on that run. "Once I catch wind of some good form, the swing feels good, and the putts feel like they are dropping, then I just go from there. "It's been a rough couple of weeks. but a good round today has restored some self-belief that I can still do it," he grinned. Meanwhile the 2022 Women's NSW Amateur runner-Up Queensland's Shyla Singh, fellow Queenslander Haruni Nakatani and New South Wales Golf Club's Ann Jang share the lead at 3-under par in the NSW Womens' Strokeplay Championship. Singh was impressive around a damp Ryde-Parramatta Layout, recording three birdies and 15 pars in a bogey-free effort. Nakatani, by contrast, had a bit of a roller coaster ride with an impressive six birdies in her opening round. Sadly, however, bogeys at the first, 4th and 14th hindered her run, while Jang ensured her name was on top of the leaderboard with an impressive eagle on the tough par-5 10th. Godiva Kim and Concord's Belinda Ji sit in a tie for fourth at 2-under, while Jazi Roberts, last week's Avondale Amateur champion Claire Shin, Finland's Katri Bakker and The Australian's Annika Rathbone round out the top 10 at 1-under par.

Men's leaderboard

Women's leaderboard