Fallbrook, CA – The 2014 eGolf Tour West season opened on a stunning Southern California morning on Wednesday, with players from five different countries converging on the Golf Club of California for the inaugural Golf Club of California Classic. By day’s end, Michael McCabe of Thousand Oaks, CA was the tournament’s 18-hole leader, posting eight birdies against just one bogey en route to a 7-under 64 – good for a four-shot lead through day one of the 54-hole event.

McCabe, 30, opened his week on the front nine of the scenic 2009 Johnny Pott/Wade Cable design with three consecutive pars before erupting with a flurry of red figures. Birdies on Nos. 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 gave the former University of Portland star a 5-under 30 on his outward nine, good for the tournament’s early lead.

On the back nine, McCabe kept his foot on the proverbial gas, notching birdies on 10 and 11 to ascend to 7-under par for the day before succumbing to his first bogey at the par-5 14th. The unlikely six on the short par-5 briefly dropped him back to 6-under par overall, but McCabe bounced back late, notching the eighth birdie of his round at the par-4 17th to round out his opening 64.

The 7-under-par effort marked McCabe’s career-best in an eGolf-sanctioned event, dating back to four starts during the 2012 eGolf Tour season in North Carolina.

Timothy Madigan

The 2010 California State Open champion has spent the past three years splitting time between PGA TOUR Canada (formerly the Canadian Tour) and the Golden State Tour. Along the way, McCabe collected four top-10 finishes on the now-TOUR-owned developmental circuit – including two in 2013, which gave way to a 30th-place finish on the tour’s season-ending Order of Merit.

Shawn Jasper of Marthasville, MO, Daniel Miernicki of Santee, CA, Kenneth McCready of San Diego, CA, Christopher Cunningham of San Diego, CA and Tim Madigan of Rio Rancho, NM are tied for second, four shots back of McCabe after matching rounds of 3-under 68 on Wednesday.

Madigan, a two-year member of the Charlotte, NC-based eGolf Tour, birdied four of his first six holes on day one, eventually reaching 5-under par through 14 holes before finishing with bogeys on 16 and 17 to finish at 68.

The affable 25-year-old won the eGolf Tour’s NorthStone Open in the fall of 2012, then played some of his most consistent golf in the latter part of 2013, finishing the season with four top-10s in his last five starts to wind up at No. 19 on the tour’s money list.

Second-round play in the Golf Club of California Classic will begin at 7:30 AM (PST) on Thursday morning. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.