Former CSU-Monterey Bay standout Audra Kepler and Sunnyside Country Club member Holly Bare got things going Monday at par-72 Del Monte Golf Course, forging a tie atop the leaderboard with a pair of solid 2-under 70′s.

Kepler, who just wrapped up a stellar career at CSUMB by earning All-America honors from the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, made her move by carding three birdies to go with just one bogey. Playing out of Buchanan Fields GC, Kepler’s biggest push came on the back-nine, where she shot 2-under 34.

Bare, a former Fresno State standout who is now an assistant for the Bulldogs’ women’s golf team, had the exact same kind of day. She’d open with a bogey on the 4th but later rebounded with three birdies coming on No.8, No.15 and No.17.

The two have a number of players right on their heels.

Kiran Sangha, still only a freshman in high school, is just a stroke back following a sturdy 1-under 71. Sangha’s older sister Amanjoty, meanwhile, is one of three players who are just two off the lead after opening with rounds of 72.

Kiran Sangha had an up and down day. She’d shoot a front-nine even par 36 with a pair of bogeys and two birdies. On her back-nine, she’d pencil in two bogeys but also three birdies, including back-to-back birdies on holes No.17 and No.18 to close out her day.

Starting on the 10th tee, Amanjoty Sangha, one of the top players on the Junior Tour of Northern California circuit, got going with a front-nine 35 that included a birdie on the 13th. On her back-nine, Amanjoty, who finished tied for second in two Junior Tour of Northern California back in March, went 1-over with two birdies and three bogeys.

The other two players at 72 are Santa Catalina High (Monterey) star Chloe Corriveau and New Mexico State sophomore-to-be Camille Orito. Corriveau, who made it to the CIF State Girls’ Championship last fall, had two birdies and two bogeys on her round. Orito, a former standout at Clovis West High in Fresno, also had two birdies and two bogeys.

Nine players are tied for seventh at 73 including San Jose resident Sabrina Iqbal, who currently holds the No.1 spot in the JTNC Girls’ points standings, and Valley Hi Country Club member Emily Laskin.

Things are also tight in the Senior portion of the championship, where Rocklin resident Lynne Cowan and Olympic Club member Pat Cornett are tied for the lead following rounds of 1-under 71.

Cowan, who won the recent California Senior Women’s Amateur Championship held at Poppy Hills Golf Course, had three birdies and two bogeys. Cornett, the captain of the 2012 USA Curtis Cup team, penciled in four birdies (including back-to-back on holes No.1 and No.2) and three bogeys.

In at 74, alone in third place, is defending champion Sandy Woodruff of Santa Cruz. Las Margaritas GC member Terry Mayes is in fourth place after a 76, while San Francisco’s Dr. Sally Krueger is six behind the leaders after a 77. Krueger was the second female to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, following pro Nancy Lopez.

Tuesday’s second round of both championships will be held at par-72 Spyglass Hill.

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