Three golfers battled the elements on Monday to share the first round lead at the Canadian Tour's fall qualifying school in Burlington, Ontario.
Nathan Leonhardt of Richdmond, B.C., Calgary's Scott Stiles and Thomas Hay of Langley, B.C. all carded 3-under 68s in soggy and windy conditions at Hidden Lakes Golf Club.
"I played well today, it was a really solid round and I managed to keep everything in check for the most part," said Leonhardt, who had five birdies and two bogeys in the challenging conditions.
Stiles and Hay were able to take advantage of their early start time and avoid the majority of the bad weather. Stiles had six birdies and three bogeys while Hay had four birdies and one bogey.
David Byrne of Essex, Ontario, who captured the Golf Channel reality series "Big Break: Indian Wells" sits just a stroke behind the Canadian trio after shooting an opening round 69. He is tied for fourth place with South Korea's Yong Woo Kim and American Joe Emerich.
Six other golfers are two strokes off the pace.
The top seven players after four rounds will earn exempt status for the 2012 Canadian Tour season while the next seven and ties will get conditional status.