Michael Belle and Alex Francois have more in common than just being two of Burnaby’s top young golfers.
The local pair also opened the 112th B.C. amateur champions with individual holes in one at the Seymour Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.
Belle, 22, who co-led the field with Spencer Weiss of Sammamish, Washington on the first day of the competition, holed out his third-ever ace on the Par 3, 149-yard 11th hole.
The Simon Fraser University senior fired five birdies en route to a two-under-par 69 to lead the field.
“I was just trying to play conservatively today,” said Belle in a B.C. Golf press release. “The course is in great shape, and the greens are a lot faster than they were in the practice round, a lot firmer. But you can post a good number if you play smart.”
Francois collected his hole-in-one later in the opening round, acing No. 8, a Par 3, 159-yard hole, with an eight iron.
The 16-year-old Moscrop Secondary School student finished his round tied for second place overall with Adam Svensson, Kevin Carrigan and Dylan Bell, all at one-under-par.
“I feel like it’s a little bit of a different expectation that everyone has for me at this event,” said Francois in the release. “It’s an amateur event and there are all kinds of accomplished players in this field. “I’m just going to play my own game and see how far I get.”
Last week, Francois placed fourth at the B.C. junior boys’ championships.
Carrigan and Bell both finished in the top three at last year’s B.C. amateur.
Belle is also part of a four-player zone 4 team along with Roy Kang, Matthew Steger and Nicholas Cagne, who together combined for three eagles and four birdies to lead the team competition at an even par 213 after 18 holes.
The 72-hole championship winds up on Friday.
