Japan's Shina Kanazawa has upstaged her celebrated travelling companion Jiyai Shin to claim the outright lead after day one of the women's Vic Open at 13th Beach.
Kanazawa made the most of calm morning conditions at the 36-hole links layout on Thursday to post a seven-under 65 - good enough for a one-shot lead over countrywoman Madoka Kimura.
JLPA Tour regular Kanazawa has fond memories of 13th Beach, finishing fifth at last year's Vic Open when South Korean superstar Shin came up just short in her bid for back-to-back titles.
Shin is a familar face on Australian shores.
She has won five professional tournaments here over a 12-year stretch, the most recent of those coming at the Australian Open at Kingston Heath in December.
The former world No.1 returned Down Under in January for her regular northern hemisphere "winter camp" with Kanazawa also among the travelling group.
The 29-year-old Kanazawa had eight birdies and just the one bogey in her round.
Australians Kelsey Bennett and Robyn Choi - who has spent time on the LPGA Tour in the US in recent years - were tied for third on five under.
"I started off with a cold putter this morning, but luckily they started rolling in during the round, so I'm quite happy with that," said Choi, who has an early-morning flight booked to the US on Monday where she plans to mostly ply her trade on the secondary Epson Tour in 2025.
Among a group tied for fifth at four under were young Australian amateurs Amelia Harris, Molly McLean, Jazy Roberts and Sarah Hammett and defending champion Ashley Lau from Malaysia.
Last year, Harris came up just short in her bid to win the Australian Amateur title aged just 15.
This year, she is balancing her hugely-promising golf career with Year 12 studies at McKinnon Secondary College in Melbourne.
Harris was satisfied to shoot four under on the more difficult Beach course.
But it could have been even better as she lost a ball after getting a flier from a greenside bunker on the 5th hole.
"It was a good day, but it could have been a great day for me," she said.
"Wherever I finished I would've been happy.
"My game felt really good and even if I had even-par, I would've still felt pretty confident going into tomorrow."
Two-time major winner Shin was still well within striking distance despite dropping a couple of shots late to finish at level par.
