Perry, who represents Commonwealth Club, shot one under par to finish with 71 on Monday after he registered eight birdies, five bogeys and one double.

The 19-year-old said a positive mental attitude, something he has worked on with coach Damian Swadling over the last two years, was key to his day-one performance.

"I started really rough with five over through six holes," Perry said.

"Nothing was happening for me and I knew I had to get fired up or I was going to be in trouble.

"I've been trying to work on keeping a basic routine.

"It just didn't seem like I was confident standing over the putter, which isn't good.

"But I got on a string eventually."

Perry is followed by Noah Best (Port Fairy) on 75 and Will Mackenzie (Warrnambool) on 76, with Matt Macfarlane (Commonwealth) on 78, Josh Brown (East Framlingham) and Jack Martin (Portarlington) on 79 then rounding out the top six at the under 21 Warrnambool tournament.

"Anyone can win - that's how it always goes," Perry said.

"Noah is a gun, so he will keep me on my toes.

"And Will is a really solid player, so I'll just give it a red hot crack and see where it goes."

Best said he had a "friendly rivalry" with Perry after several years of competition.

"I'd like to catch him but he's playing pretty well, so it will be a tough ask," the 17-year-old said.

"If he gets his putting going then I think he'll be hard to stop.

"But there's some good players behind me as well.

"Matt won at Port Fairy on the weekend and Will is playing on his home course, so I'm expecting some fierce competition for second if I can't catch Caleb."

Georgia Fish (Colac) leads the girls' open tournament on 78 with Sam Marris (Warrnambool) on 41 and Jacob Young (Barwon Valley) on 46 leading the non-handicap division.

Eli McLeod (Warnambool) leads the boys' stableford on 39, followed by Edward Ly (Bairnsdale) and Hugo Artz (Warrnambool) on 32.