With temperatures creeping around 100 degrees it wasn’t just the heat of competition that golfers from around the state were facing as the opening round of the 42nd annual Tennessee Four-Ball Championship got under way at the Cleveland Country Club Thursday.

A field of 42 amateur teams and 30 senior teams took to the course to participate in the tournament.

Four-ball is a play format that pits one team of two against another. Each player plays their own ball throughout the round, and at the end of each hole the lowest score between the two teammates is taken as the team’s overall score.

Thursday was the first day of two days’ worth of stoke play. Qualifying golfers will move on to weekend match play to decide the tournament’s winner.

The team of John Maupin and Brandon Cissom lead the field of locals competing in the amateur championship and are currently sitting in fourth place after shooting an opening round 8-under par. Overall the team scored nine birdies, eight pars and a single bogey.

Matt Crowder and David Watts found themselves in an eight-way tie for 14 with fellow Clevelander Cody Godfrey and his teammate Keoni Vidrine, all of whom shot 5-under par. Crowder and Watts accumulated six birdies and three bogeys, while Godfrey and Vidrine notched five birdies.

Rick Mays and Bob Rice are currently knotted up in a six-way tie for 22nd after scoring an opening round 4-under. The team shot five birdies against one bogey.

Matt Robertson and Matt Hadden are one stroke behind Rice and Mays, whom they were paired with, and are sitting in a four-way tie for 28th at 3-under. The pair notched four birdies while only scoring one bogey.

The teams of Pat Marcrom and Gerald Burrell and Chuck and Chris Liner have some catching up to do. Both teams currently sit tied for 32nd with a 2-under par.

Gerald Burns and Pudgie Payne are the only local representation on the senior side of the tournament. Their team also has some ground to make up, tied for 22nd in a 30-team field, shooting a 1-over 73 to open the tournament.

Currently, the team of Elliott Wickenden and Hayden Anderson lead the amateur event with an opening round 10-under par, shooting 11 birdies against a single bogey.

Defending champions Bill Argabrite and Tony Green hold the top spot in the senior division with an 11-under par. The pair notched nine birdies and an eagle to catapult into the lead.

Today kicks off the final round of stoke play, with a narrowed field taking part in Saturday and Sunday’s match play rounds.