Jim Doyle, of Mission Hills, chips onto the 18th hole during the first round of the KGA Public Links Championship. Round One of the tournament was Saturday at Eagle Bend Golf Course. Doyle was tied for second at 67.

When Mike Powell and his caddy noticed the pleasant conditions and the names of the golfers participating in the Kansas Golf Association’s Public Links Championship at Eagle Bend Golf Course, they expected a lot of low scores.

“With this many good players in the field, it’s gonna happen,” Powell said. “The only thing that really make this course all that difficult is when the wind is blowing, and I don’t think it was blowing over 10 miles per hour.”

A record 21 golfers finished under par during Day One of the 13th annual tournament Saturday.

While Jon Platz of Olathe shot a 65 for the lead, the leaderboard featured several current college golfers, including Hutchinson Community College’s Grady Pauls (69) and Justin Raigoza (68) and Washburn University’s John Robbins (68) and Ryan Deutsch (67). Conrad Roberts, tied with Deutsch for second place, is a former Kansas University golfer who won the KGA Four-Ball Championship with Chad Roesler on June 9. Jim Doyle of Mission Hills also shot a 67.

Tyler Cummins, a former Kansas State golfer, won last year’s tournament, but he works for the KGA and will set up today’s Junior Team Championship in Newton, which prevented his participation in the weekend’s event.

Cummins also helped run Saturday’s 108-person Eagle Bend contest, whose participants cannot belong to a private club. As Cummins tabulated scores in the shaded gazebo, the posted leaderboard showed that several have a good chance of besting his 133 total from 2006.

“It’s coming down,” several golfers said, ribbing Cummins.

Powell could have been poised to make a run at that mark, but he triple-bogied the par-4 No. 7 hole. He pulled his drive, and his third shot grazed a tree branch.

“I had a good round except for one hole,” he said. “When you have a mental breakdown and a physical breakdown all at the same time in golf, bad things happen, and bad things happened on that hole.”

Powell played collegiately at Ottawa University and works at Eagle Bend. Despite the No. 7 hole miscue, he still finished six shots behind at 71.

Although soft greens and lack of wind helped the golfers Saturday, the sun blazed during an 80-plus-degree day.

“There’s just no air on the back nine,” said Zac Burton, a real-estate developer in Manhattan. “It’s just really humid.”

Burton, who backed up quarterback Michael Bishop at Kansas State, shot a 70, giving him a chance of reaching his goal of a top-10 finish. He praised his driving, but said he needed to improve his short game.

“I don’t think I made a putt probably outside of five feet,” Burton said.

Karl Nitz of Salina glanced at the leaderboard with an approving smile. The former assistant club pro at Lawrence Country Club, who set an objective of finishing under 150 during the two days, shot a 73.

“I feel really good about my round,” he said.

Nitz, a social worker, has two children, 3-year-old Hayden and 3-month-old Harrison. He has spent the last two months on paternity leave with the latter.

“I’ve gone out to the range a few times, hit some balls with the baby,” he said.

Those who shot Saturday’s highest scores, Steve Swatsenbarg, Robert Ozment and Todd Swearingen, tee off at 7 a.m. today. Leaders Platz, Roberts, Deutsch and Doyle start at 11:20 a.m.