With around 25mm of rain falling over Friday evening and Saturday morning the course was soft with some casual water on many fairways.  Play began under dark, overcast skies with a swirling wind, generally from the SW.  The rain had made the recently cored green very soft but over 10 days growth and the recent rain saw them slow and requiring players to really commit to their putts or be certain to end up well shot of the cup.  Despite the challenging conditions five pairs, H Williams/Lakey, Mottram/A Clement, Atlas/Wilkins, Kenney/Hocking & Marienfeld/Mottram all scored better than par.