It is not how you start, but how you finish - just ask Dunedin amateur Nick Borren.
The 26-year-old finished his first round at The Hills with a double bogey yesterday, leaving him tied for 58th at 1-over-par at the New Zealand Open.
Borren qualified for the Open only after winning a qualifier in Cromwell on Monday, and is one of four amateurs in the 144-strong field.
He was in good shape at 1-under after 17 holes, but he sprayed his drive into the rough on the 433m 18th.
It took him another two shots to find the green, and two more to bring his first round at the Open to a close.
"That sort of put me in a bit of a pickle,'' Borren said.
"I'm going to have to shoot a good round [today].''
Borren, a structural engineer in Dunedin, will play Millbrook today in a bid to make the cut - the top 60 plus ties.
"I'm going to have to shoot a good round to get back into red numbers and make the cut, that's the primary goal.''
Despite terrible conditions in the morning, Borren started the day by birdieing three of the first five holes.
But bogeys on the two par-3s on the front nine threatened to derail his round.
However, he then scored 10 consecutive pars, only to come unstuck on the 18th.
Borren, an Otago Golf Club member, lived in Arrowtown until he was 9, before moving to Dunedin in 1999 and going on to attend Otago Boys' High School.
He studied in Christchurch, before living in Europe for 18 months, and returned to Dunedin about two years ago.
After narrowly missing out on a spot in last year's Open - he lost a three-way sudden death playoff in Cromwell - Borren said he enjoyed his first round in a major tournament.
He was in the second group, and teed off at 7.45am, just before the rain, wind, lightning and thunder kicked in.
"It was pretty blustery at the start and quite dark. There was probably three or four holes we couldn't see much,'' he said.
Borren, who has family friend Les Nelson caddying for him, will tee off from the 10th hole at Millbrook at 12.15pm today.
