Kennett Square's Keeling starts with a bang to grab the lead in GAP Middle-Amateur Championship

   Andrew Keeling of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club got his Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship season off to a great start when he holed out for eagle on the first hole at Rolling Green Golf Club in the opening round of the 36^th Middle-Amateur Championship Wednesday.

   Keeling rode the momentum of that fast start to a sparkling 5-under-par 65 over the par-70 William Flynn gem in Springfield, Delaware County that gave him a two-shot lead after the opening round.

   The final round of the 36-hole event will be played Thursday. There was a cut to the low 70 and ties following Wednesday’s opening round and it took a 79 to book a return trip to Rolling Green for the second day of the event for amateurs 25 and older.

   The 27-year-old Keeling sent a 50-degree wedge into the green from 120 yards away on the first hole and it found the bottom of the cup for an eagle. He added birdies at the fifth, seventh and 11^th holes at Rolling Green, site of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur, before finally making a bogey on the tough par-3 14^th hole to fall back to 4-under for his round.

   A birdie at the par-5 17^th hole got him back to 5-under. A video that GAP sent out on Twitter showed Keeling’s bid for a birdie at the last and a 6-under 64 somehow stay out of the cup. He settled for a par and a very strong 5-under start, the lowest opening-round score in the history of the championship.

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   One of the Philadelphia area’s top mid-ams, Jeff Osberg of Pine Valley Golf Club, shared second place with Will Davenport of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, each carding a 3-under 67.

   It’s hard to believe that the 34-year-old Osberg has never won this championship, the only missing line on his glittering resume in GAP major championships.

   Drexel golf coach Ben Feld of Green Valley Country Club, who the GAP Mid-Am two years ago, and 2017 BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Gregor Orlando of Philadelphia Cricket Club are lurking in a group of three players tied for fourth at even-par 70, three shots behind Osberg and Davenport.

   The third member of that trio at even-par was Stephen Dressel of St. Davids Golf Club, who seems to be a perennial contender in this championship.

   Matthew Finger of DuPont Country Club and Andy Beittel of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club were tied for seventh at 1-over 71.

   A foursome tied for ninth at 2-over 72 includes a trio of past champions. One of them is defending champion Michael Hyland of Little Mill Country Club. Another is Matthew Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club, who captured the 2016 GAP Mid-Am title in a playoff that included DuPont’s Finger.

   Then there is Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott, who owns four GAP Mid-Am titles, the last one coming in 2013.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for ninth at 2-over was Bryan Keeling of Spring Mill Country Club.