NATCHEZ &8212; With a field including the likes of Robert Plucienski, Jordan Farmer and Matthew Hall, one would have expected one of the 16 to 18-year-olds to be leading after round one of the Gulf States PGA Junior Tour Thanksgiving Junior Classic.

Instead, it&8217;s 13-year-old Charles Valluzzo of Baton Rouge, who is in the lead. Valluzzo overcame a shaky start to shoot an amazing 2-under-par 70 at Beau Pr/ Country Club Tuesday afternoon to take the lead not only in the boys 12-13 age group, but the overall lead as well.

&8220;I was pretty surprised,&8221; Valluzzo said. &8220;This is the third time I&8217;ve shot under par on 18 (holes).&8221;

He had to be surprised, especially after starting his round off with a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 1st hole.

&8220;With the double bogey on the first hole, I thought I was going to do bad, but I didn&8217;t,&8221; Valluzzo said.

Valluzzo then made birdies on Nos. 3 and 6 to get back to even par only to bogey the par-3 7th hole to finish the front nine at 1-over 37. He then made birdies on three of the first four holes on the back nine &8212; Nos. 10, 11 and 13 &8212; en route to a bogey-free 33. He even had a chance for a round of 69, but his birdie putt on No. 18 broke to the left.

&8220;I didn&8217;t really trust my line,&8221; Valluzzo said. &8220;I played it out about a ball-and-a-half.&8221;

Plucienski, from Slidell, La., is one back overall and leads the boys 16-18 age group after shooting a 1-under 71, which included four birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

&8220;I made a couple of mistakes,&8221; Plucienski said. &8220;Hopefully tomorrow I don&8217;t make any mistakes. It could have been a lot lower (score) had I made a couple of putts.&8221;

Jerry Johnston of Choudrant, La., and Ryan Peters of Destrehan, La., are tied for second in that age group after each had rounds of 3-over 74.

It was not a good day for some of Natchez&8217;s best junior golfers on Tuesday.

Jordan Farmer and Matthew Hall are tied for sixth place in the boys 16-18 age group after each had rounds of 6-over 78.

&8220;I hit the ball well,&8221; Farmer said. &8220;I just could not putt. The greens are like lightning. Nothing would fall in the center of the hole. I had a couple of bad shots, but mostly putting killed me.&8221;

Hall&8217;s round included a bogey on No. 2, a double bogey on No. 4, birdies on Nos. 9 and 10, a bogey on No. 12, a double bogey on No. 13, a triple bogey on No. 14 and a birdie on No. 18.

Mary Kate Byrne started off her round with back-to-back double bogeys en route to a round of 88, good enough for second place in the girls group, but 15 shots behind first-place and 15-year-old Kirby Baker of Baton Rouge.

&8220;I was struggling,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;I pretty much played awful. I had 39 putts. Tomorrow&8217;s another day.&8221;

The final group of the day &8212; Byrne, Baker, and Victoria Newbury from New Orleans &8212; almost didn&8217;t get to finish their round because of slow play and darkness was getting closer.

Said Baker of her round, &8220;I was hitting the ball really well. I was hitting my approach shots well. I wasn&8217;t putting well. I was pretty surprised. I played better than I thought I was.&8221;

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Salas of LaPlace, La., leads the boys 14-15 age group after shooting a round of 1-over 73. Salas mentioned that he would have expected someone in his age group to shoot even-par 72 and take the lead, but it didn&8217;t happen.

&8220;I played pretty good, I guess,&8221; Salas said. &8220;I putted good today. It seemed like every time I got in trouble, my putter saved me. And I eagled 15. I hit a driver to about 45 yards, and I chipped it in with a sand wedge.&8221;