OAKLAND — On the first day of the Maine Amateur Championship at Waterville Country Club, an early wake-up call was just as important as skill and course knowledge. As wind increased throughout the day, scores also went up. At the end of the day, the top of the leaderboard was full of golfers who started their round the first thing in the morning.

The day belonged to John Hayes IV, of Nonesuch River Golf Club. The 2012 winner of the state match play championship, Hayes shot an impressive five-under par 65 Tuesday, and holds a four stroke lead over 13-time Maine Amateur winner Mark Plummer of Augusta Country Club and Sam Grindle of Island Country Club. Plummer and Grindle each shot a one-under 69.

“The last four years, I’ve felt my game was good enough to win the Maine Am, but it hasn’t panned out,” Hayes said.

Hayes, Plummer, and Grindle were the only players to finish under par on Day 1, and each teed off before 8 a.m., as did Jeff Cole, who came in at an even 70.

Hayes had one hiccup, a double bogey on the par 5 hole three, when he had to take an unplayable. That put Hayes at two over par, but he turned it around quickly. Hayes followed his double bogey with birdies on five of the next six holes to finish the front nine at three under. With birdies on 15 and 18, Hayes had his 65. Hayes made seven birdies in a practice round at Waterville on Monday, so he wasn’t concerned after he struggled on the third hole, and Hayes continued to play aggressively.

“I knew there were so many birdies out there,” Hayes said. “My last four rounds, I’ve made four to eight birdies each round.”

Aggressiveness may have hurt Grindle. The 2012 Class C high school state champion, Grindle was four under par through 11 holes, but bogeys on 12, 14, and 17 pulled him back toward the pack.

“I wanted to get off to a fast start, because the scoring holes are on the front nine. I got a little aggressive on a few putts on the back nine,” Grindle, a redshirt junior at Rollins College in Florida, said. “I hit a few long on a few greens and got myself in a little trouble.”

After sitting out the Maine Am last season at The Woodlands in Falmouth due to an illness in his family, Plummer returned to the tournament with a strong first day.

“I’m getting back in the groove, especially back up here. It’s more my style of course,” Plummer said.

Plummer was one under through the front nine, but bogeys on 11 and 13 pushed his score to one over. Plummer rallied with consecutive birdies on 14 and 15, and played par golf the rest of the way.

“I hit one real bad shot, and that was on 13. Other than that, I was pretty steady,” Plummer said. “Good day to play in the morning, I guess. First nine holes was pretty calm and pretty good conditions. But the last nine holes, that’s pretty narrow, and with the wind blowing…”

The wind. In the late morning, the wind picked up and played havoc with some shots, particularly on the back nine.

“The wind picked up and kind of messed with the game a little bit,” Kevin Byrne, a Waterville Country Club local, said. Byrne teed off at 7:10 a.m. and shot a one-over 71.

“On the back nine, (the wind) is swirling through all those trees,” Augusta’s Thomas Bean said. Bean began play shortly after 11 a.m. and finished with a two-over 72, one of the better scores for a later starter.

The 17th hole was the toughest hole of the day. As the wind kicked up, the par 4, 396-yard hole became a score killer. Only eight of the 132 players birdied 17, and 81 — 61 percent of the field — shot a bogey or worse on the hole.

“The tee shot’s really tough. It’s into the wind today, so it’s playing a little bit longer,” Gavin Dugas said. A Pittsfield native and recent Maine Central Institute graduate, Dugas was a four-over 74 on the day. Three bogeys on the back nine increased his score.

“On a couple of shots, I lost focus,” Dugas, who won the New England high school championship last month, said.

Andrew Slattery, last year’s Maine Am winner, shot a two-over 72. Three-time champion Ricky Jones is one-over at 71, and tied with Byrne and Brent Barker for fifth place.

“I’m pleased with it. I was trying to get in around par for the first day and see where we can go from there,” Byrne said. “It’s a little bit different than what we play every day, obviously, but it’s set up well, and I think it’s going to be a good week.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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