Most players were woken up last night by severe thunderstorms in the Perth region. Nearly 30,000 homes were without power for several hours. The storm had moved off by dawn, but the chance of a weather delay for the first round of the 2015 Aussie Open still loomed over the players’ heads.

The event got off on the right foot, however, as the sun poked out about an hour before the scheduled tee off time. With a few distant rumbles, the competitors hit the course with hopes of low scores and more of the lovely weather they had experienced throughout the week. Although a bit more humid than days past, it was significantly cooler. As the round progressed, so did the storms off the coast. Squalls popped up seemingly out of nowhere, so it was virtually impossible to predict what was on its way. Slowly, the clouds began to build once again as a major storm was about to hit the course.

The Mundaring Disc Golf Park, along with the rest of the area, was quite dry due to over 60 days without a drop of rain. This means that, not only was lightning an issue, but also the risk of fire. At the start of the tournament, there were at least 3 fires burning on the outskirts of the city of Perth. Needless to say, these conditions pose a severe danger to the competitors in the field, so nothing was left to chance. With one loud crack of a bolt 12 miles away, players were called off the course. What came next was the kind of thunderstorm the locals hadn’t seen in over two months.

One of the tricks to hosting a great event is always having a backup plan. Players were to be offered lunch at the completion of the round, but the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Mundaring Sporting Club had food out for players during the break, which was a welcome diversion from the pounding hail and rain outside. Competitors enjoyed a lite lunch and heavy conversation while the storm moved to the southwest and eventually out of view.

Once the storm had passed, it was time to focus on finishing the round with some good scores. In the Open Women’s division, 3-time world champion Valerie Jenkins battled through the early part of the round, and came out after the break with her sights locked on the chains. Not far behind her was Jennifer Allen and the two of them battled it out for the rest of the round. At the end of the day Val sat at the top of the leaderboard with a less-than-comfortable one stroke lead.

The Open division is top heavy with 5 of the 6 top-rated players in the world but there are a few local underdogs with the course knowledge to make anything possible. The current and 3-time world champion Paul McBeth had four birdies in his first eight holes prior to the break, and picked up right where he left off, only to double bogey the difficult 16th hole. It stretches for nearly a quarter mile, measuring in at an astounding 375 meters, and is surrounded by OB on both sides of the fairway and around the green. McBeth came into the house carding an eight under par round of 57. Another familiar face and recent newlywed, Nate Doss, was the only player to beat McBeth’s score. Nate played calm and smooth as he always does, and finished the round with a 1054 rated 56. A heap of other big names are still within reach, so this promises to truly be a fight to the finish line. Could this be the first (of possibly many) time that we see the husband and wife duo take home the crown? Only time will tell.

In the Masters division, the clear favorite going in to the event was Kiwi legend Simon Feasey. He is in the lead after the first day, but not by much. John Cloutier, an Australian-born American came in with a 66, one stroke back of Feasey. Californian Andrew Burbee is yet another lone stroke behind sitting in third place.

Be sure to check back in tomorrow for the latest results as the tension begins to mount and the pressure of winning a major championship will surely tighten the field. With so many close races, the 2015 Aussie Open promises to see an exciting finish. We will continue to provide commentary via Twitter as well as photos of all the action on Flickr. Until tomorrow…cheers!