It didn’t take Taylor Lewis long to surmise that he was headed for a good day Friday in the first round of the Chattanooga Men’s Metro at Signal Mountain.

In a round on the same course a day earlier, Lewis, a senior on Lipscomb University’s golf team, bogeyed the par-5 No. 1 hole. That thought was on his mind as he sized up a 30-foot eagle putt at No. 1 on Friday. When the putt fell into the hole on its last revolution, Lewis got the feeling he could have a special day.

Turns out he was right. Making birdies at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, Lewis raced to a 4-under-par 32 on the front nine, then added another birdie on the back for a five-under-par 66.

That left him atop a leaderboard that, as has been the case in Chattanooga area tournaments the last couple of seasons, was filled with college players.

One stroke behind Lewis was Paul Apyan, a red-shirt freshman at Southern Miss. UTC senior Mitch Brock, Pete Webster and Greg Privette followed with 68s. Close behind after 69s are Jay Walston and Pat Corey.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lewis doesn’t play a lot of summer tournaments. He’s a working man. But it’s not as though Lewis digs ditches for his coin. He works at the Chattanooga Golf Center, which allows him to be near the game and score the occasional bit of expert advice from instructor Colt Helton.

A tip from Helton got Lewis ready to go for the Metro. Despite that bogey at No. 1 on his  round on Thursday, he shot 68.

“That gave me a little positive momentum heading into the first round,” Lewis said.

Lewis took advantage. His ball striking was sharp, his putting even sharper. After he drained that 30-footer for eagle at the first hole, Lewis was brimming with confidence. At No. 4, he hit a sand wedge to 10 feet and made that putt for birdie. He drove No. 5 with a 3-wood and two-putted for another birdie. At the par-4 sixth, he hit another sand wedge to about four feet and made that putt for his third straight birdie.

It was inevitable that Lewis would cool down after that torrid start. He bogeyed the par-4 8^th to give back a stroke, and made just one birdie on the back nine, that after driving No. 11 and two putting.

“The flat stick just quit working,” Lewis said.

Actually, the putter was good to him on No. 18. His approach found the greenside bunker, and he blasted out to five feet. His par putt was tricky.

“You don’t ordinarily like to play a five-footer outside the hole, but that’s what I did,” Lewis said.

The par save allowed Lewis to take the first-day lead. He was generally pleased with his effort, but shook his head at his inability to birdie No. 9 and No. 13, both par fives.

“I’ve got 220 in on No. 9 and 172 in on No. 13,” Lewis said. “It’s not a given that you birdie from there, but you’d like to think you could. If I birdie those two holes, I shoot 64. But I’m not complaining.”

Neither was Apyan complaining, but he was disappointed at his finish. Through 14 holes, Apyan was 6-under, but he proceeded to bogey Nos. 15, 16 and 18.

His putter was the culprit. He was about eight feet off the green at No. 15 and chose his putter for his third shot. Two more putts later, he was in with a five. He three-putted No. 16 for bogey and missed a two-footer for par at 18.

“That was disappointing,” Apyan said. “But I played pretty steady throughout the day. I’m really working on course management and trying to stay focused. What happened on the last hole can’t be changed. You just have to let it go.”

Apyan’s round was anything but dull. He made seven birdies and an eagle, plus a double bogey and those three closing bogeys. He was four under par through six holes before that dub, at No. 7, derailed him a bit. But after a par at No. 8, he reeled off three straight birdies and also birdied No. 13. Even after the two bogeys at 15 and 16, he bounced back with his final birdie of the day at No. 17.

Apyan’s game improved markedly after he spent his first season at Southern Miss as a red-shirt.

“Best thing I’ve ever done,” Apyan said. “I had a 3.6 [grade point average], gained 23 pounds [through some intense weight room work] and my golf IQ is a lot higher. I spent most of the year working on my short game, trying new shots that some of my teammates showed me. My game is a lot better now than it was this time a year ago.”

Larry McGill’s 72 was good enough for a one-shot lead in the senior division over Ronnie Law and Ron Johnson.

In the team division, the Valleybrook threesome of Apyan, Derek Rende and David McKenna won with a best-ball 62. Council Fire’s team of Bryce Ledford, Chris Gilliland and Nick Blakely tied for second with the Lookout Mountain threesome of Walston, Aon Miller and Tom Schreiner.