Emerging West Australian Abbie Teasdale has taken another step in her development, sharing the lead after day one of the Port Phillip Open Amateur.

Teasdale, a member at Royal Fremantle and who has been the junior member of a couple of very young WA teams in the past two years, continues to show encouraging signs with an opening 75 at Commonwealth.

She shares the lead with Julienne Soo, a member at nearby Woodlands back at home after her college career at Oklahoma University finished mid-year.

But it’s a tight women’s leaderboard with several of the pre-tournament fancies handy.

Four women – Steph Kyriacou, Sarah Wilson, Kathryn Norris and Steff Vogel – are within a shot of the lead, while another five share seventh place just two babck.

The men’s edition, also at Commonwealth, similarly has a tightly packed leaderboard, with Queenslander Louis Dobbelaar the early leader.

On the comeback from injury, Dobbelaar had put a small gap in the field until he took a double-bogey on the 17th.

But the multiple Australian representative, clearly benefiting from spending some time with PGA Tour star Cameron Smith, still managed the day’s best 71 to lead by one at two under.

Among five at 72 are rising Sydneysider Harrison Crowe, who continued his good form in the Victorian capital where he was so prominent in this year’s Australian Amateur Championship.

Crowe shares second with fellow New South Welshman Corey Lamb, South Australian pair Billy Cawthorne and Liam Georgiadis and Victorian hopeful Lawrence Curtis.

Victorian duo Ben Henkel and Andre Lautee carded even-par 73s to share seventh place with three rounds to play.

Former AFL champion Brendon Goddard, fresh from a start in the Australian PGA Tour’s Gippsland Super 6, didn’t fare quite as well.

The former St Kilda and Essendon champ opened brightly with a birdie on the second hole and had another on the 17th, but in between endured three double-bogeys en route to an opening 86.

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