Lothians duo Kieran Cantley and Danny Kay off to strong starts in Scottish Challenge

Lee, one of the oldest players in the field at 44, took pride of place among a big home contingent on day one in the £230,000 event with a five-under-par 66 that contained nine birdies.

Kay also has the leader, Englishman Nathan Kimsey, in his sights after he opened with a polished 67 in the first game out in the tournament’s return since dropping off the schedule after David Law triumphed on home soil at Spey Valley in Aviemore in 2018.

And, with Cantley baking up his compatriots with a 68 to also sit inside the top 15, it was a good day’s work by the Scots as Paul Lawrie, who is hosting the event through his sports management and events company, Five Star Sports Agency, looked on.

“I’m pretty pleased with that,” said Cantley of an effort that started with a bogey but then produced four birdies in blustery conditions at the Aberdeenshire venue. “I played pretty well today, but just didn’t hole many putts.

“It’s a good start to the tournament considering I’ve not been playing great recently. I’d been focusing on the wrong things. I’ve been going through the ball and getting too technical instead of just trying to play golf.

“I went to see my coach, Colin Brooks, a couple of weeks ago and we were chatting about swing keys. He said that we had to be concentrating on things that are going to work now rather than looking at big changes. Sometimes it’s the wee things that can help you play good golf and I’ve gone back to that.

“Although I missed the cut in Spain last week, I played some good golf. I got the bad side of the draw there and missed by two. But I’ve started to hit some good golf shots again, which is nice.”

As a reward for topping the Tartan Pro Tour Order of Merit last season, Cantley is set to make a total of