EAST PROVIDENCE  — Bartley Forrester, a fifth-year senior on the Georgia Tech squad that last month finished as the national runner-up to champion Florida, held the lead after the first round Wednesday, June 21, of the 61st playing of the Northeast Amateur Invitational at Wannamoisett Country Club.

The Gaineville, Ga., resident fired a 7-under par, 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Mathew Riedel, of Houston, Texas, a Vanderbilt senior.

Forrester recorded eight birdies during his round, which came in the morning wave. His only blemish was a bogey on the par 4, 437-yard sixth. Riedel's day was bogey-free, as he birdied three holes on the front nine and two on the back.

"I was really steady all day today," said Forrester, who is making his Northeast debut. The 18 he played Wednesday was his second on Wannamoisett following up on his practice round earlier in the week. "I gave myself a lot of scoring chances and I was able to make a few putts...I'm really excited to start out this way."

A group of players came in at 4-under, 65, including the reigning Elite Amateur Series Cup winner Caleb Surratt, the North Carolina resident and freshman from the University of Tennessee. The Northeast is the second stop of the 2023 Elite Amateur Series circuit.

Surratt also went bogey-free in Round 1, which was played under near-ideal weather conditions. Temperatures hovered in the mid-70s and there was only a hint of a breeze for most of the day. According to officials, Wannamoisett's notoriously undulating greens were running at around 13 on the Stimpmeter.

"They were fast, but they were running really nice," of the greens said Wells Williams of West Point, Miss., another of the Vanderbilt contingent in the field. Williams, a freshman, carded a 1-under, 68 Wednesday.

Two-time reigning Northeast champion Dylan Menante, formerly of Pepperdine and late of the University of North Carolina, started out defense of his title well, birdieing holes 12-15 after beginning his round on the back side.

Things took a turn for the worse as he approached his turn with a bogey on the par 4 18th, then got even more troublesome as he made four more missteps coming in on the front, including a double-bogey at the uphill par 4 ninth. Menante finished his day with a 2-over, 71.

Also of note, of the four Rhode Islanders in the field Wannamoisett member and former State Amateur champ Bobby Leopold posted an even par 70, making four birdies and bogeys during his opening round.