WATERLOO - Prior to his opening round of the 107th Iowa Amateur Championship, Ben Herrera contemplated whether to carry a 3-iron or a 62-degree wedge as his 14th club. He went with the wedge and it proved to be one of many good decisions made by Iowa State's top golfer Monday at Sunnyside Country Club.

Herrera birdied nine holes en route to setting Sunnyside's competitive course record with an 8-under-par 64. Waterloo's Tom Christensen was the previous record holder and is among a trio of competitors tied six strokes back of Herrera in second place with 36 holes remaining.

"The competitive record was 66, which I held, so now I'm mad at Ben," joked Christensen who set the record in the 2002 Sunnyside Club Championship.

The 49-year-old salesman still holds the non-competitive course record of 63, but Herrera also had that mark in his sight early Monday afternoon. After dropping a 15-foot birdie putt from above the 17th hole, Herrera needed to par the 18th hole for a 63. The ISU senior-to-be slightly pushed a five-foot par putt to the right and finished with bogey.

It was the best round fired in an Iowa Amateur Championship since Gene Elliott of West Des Moines also bogeyed his final hole and shot 64 at the Ottumwa Country Club in 2000. Elliott happened to be in the same group as Herrera on Monday. His ISU teammate Nathan Leary of Waterloo was also in the threesome.

"It's definitely impressive, no doubt about that," Leary said of his teammate's score. "A couple under was doable today, but 64 was in another league."

Herrera showcased great touch around the greens to eclipse his previous top career round of 7-under-par. One of his main weapons was a 62-degree wedge he acquired after overcoming a seven-shot deficit to win the Fort Dodge Amateur in late June.

"I had some pro shop credit and I was just kind of looking around and I figured, 'ah, I could use this,'" Herrera said of the club. "I've just been practicing with it for the last few weeks. I figured out here (at Sunnyside) the greens are so hard you've got to hit some shots that you can get some height on."

After a birdie on No. 1, Herrera used his new club to place a recovery shot 3-feet from the pin and save par on No. 5. The club came in handy again when he holed out from a green-side bunker on No. 12. Herrera followed that effort up by stopping his tee shot on the par-3, 13th hole three inches left of the pin. The near hole-in-one highlighted a run of five consecutive birdies from holes 11 through 15.

Riding in a golf cart alongside his girlfriend, the Cyclone standout remained relaxed and in control throughout the round. With a comfortable lead and two rounds left to play, Herrera isn't taking anything for granted.

"I'm just going to stick to the same gameplan and not play any different," he said. "If you keep it below the hole, you can play aggressive. But there's a lot of golf left."

Joining Christensen in second with two-under-par 70's are Ben Peters and Adam Seitz of Bettendorf. Challenged by strong winds, only eight of 165 golfers finished the opening day under par.

"I think the only reason why I'm in the mix is because I'm a member here and I know all the bounces," Christensen said. "Steve Reilly, the golf pro out here, has really changed my golf game and helped me quite a bit. I guess the moral of the story is at age 49 it's not too old to learn something new."

Serving as Iowa Amateur host for the first time since 1985, Sunnyside received many positive reviews from players. Thirty-six Sunnyside members volunteered time to help with the tournament alongside the Iowa Golf Association.

"The golf course condition is exceptional," said 36-year-old Iowa Amateur rookie Aaron Stevens of Grimes. "The greens are probably some of the best I've putted on all year. The golf course is interesting, you've got to hit a lot of different shots and I've really enjoyed it so far."

Iowa Amateur Championship

First round

1. Ben Herrera 64

T2. Ben Peters 70

T2. Tom Christensen 70

T2. Andy Seitz 70

T5. Dustin Drenth 71

T5. Kyle Bermel 71

T5. Tyler Johnson 71

T5. Brent Goodenow 71

T9. Aaron Stevens 72

T9. Mike McCoy 72

T9. Justin Weber 72

T9. Terry Cook 72

T9. Tom Lathrop 72

73 - Kirby Pettitt, Gene Elliott, Josh Manske, Jeff Panek, Kirby Pettitt, Todd Sapp, Jake Weeber, Cody Schweinefus

74 - Kirby Brown, KC Doland, Scott Morgensen, Bill Manske, Chris Brant

75 - Jon Brown, Dan Dalziel, Nathan Leary, Nathan McCoy, Mike Oimoen, Ron Peterson, Tom Staack, Michael Wuertz, Michael Rickford, Frank Schmidt, Matt Mickelson, Cory Braunschweig

76 - Joe Palmer, Robb Pomerantz, Mike Schuchmann, Brian Verduyn, Sam Zoske, Rob Lynch

77 - Gary Jacobson, Carl Johnson, Matt Sargent, Zach Steffen, Jon Tink, Sam Aossey, Justin Leas, Andrew Toivonen, John Thompson

78 - Marc Gladson, Alex Jarnagin, Neil Malenke, Mark Mershon, Jacob Sitzmann, Aaron Smith, Peter Strothkamp, David Studer, Eric Anfinson, Mike Slavin, Austin Nedelcoff, TJ Des Camps, Jonathan Haedt, Joel Ethington, Bradley George

79 - Jim Curell, Jared Doerfler, Ben Klosterman, Chris Lovell, Brent Messmore, Andrew Peter, John Ryan, Tim Ward, Michael Wetrich, Brett Deneve, Mike Compiano, Mason Linn, Ty Stewart, Troy Hoffman

80 - Bob Hansen Jr., Curtis Holck, Mike Ketcham, Ben Pauley, Joe Paxson, Blake Waller, Bret Taylor, CJ Gaston, Tim Taylor, Nate Steege

81 - Zack Anderson, Neil Doak, Jeff Petersen, Gary Ritter, Jonathan Rogers, Matt Skahill, David Struve, John Peters, Levi Slings, Dan Naughton, Dave Schurke, Bill Douglas, Cam Jacobs, Nate Dunn

82 - Jim Campbell, Todd Hingtgen, Ryan Horner, Craig Lindsay, Dan Mulligan, Duwayne Wessels, Paul Wurtz

83 - Brandon Creek, Jared Kvidera, Alex Hansche, Chris Sturdivant, J.B. Spillane, Kirby Schmidt, JD Anderson, Kyle Menke, Ben Juffer

84 - Jared Walahoski, Brandon Nigg, Justin Smith, Dave Akers, Cory Watson

85 - Dave Craft, Justin Holm, Mike McCunniff, Brandon McElhiney, Brian Waller, Pat Ryan, Keith Duenow, John O'Hair, Joel Winters, Justin Holm

86 - Jason Klein, Quinn Sturdivant, Joel Greteman, Austin Morrow, Robert McCloskey, Jacob Bermel

87 - Mark Wall

88 - Mike Doyle, Stephen Larson, Tom Payne, Jack Griffin, James Hurning, Kevin Wynn, Mark Creveling

89 - Jack Griffin

91 - AJ Johansen

92 - Scott Bohlender, Josh Witt, Tom Norton, Eric Peyton

93 - Neil Bolstad, Cory Jansen

94 - David Brown, Chris Wanger

95 - Clay Smith

101 - Dan Hodges