Matthew Rushton signed his scorecard Tuesday and appeared relieved to be off the golf course.

The Bluffton resident shot an opening-round 74 at Bear Creek Golf Club, good enough for a tie for fifth in the Hank Haney IJGA Junior Open, an American Junior Golf Association event. The last couple holes had been a struggle as a steady rain and increasing wind affected play, he said.

"I'm fine with them having the rest of this," he said, motioning to the players left on the course.

Rushton wasn't alone in battling the weather, which served to protect an already difficult track. No player from the boys or girls divisions broke par.

Matt Cheng, Shota Ozaki and Chris Williams lead the boys division after opening with even-par 72s. Taylor Tomlinson, the highest-ranked girl in the field, also shot even par to lead the girls division by a stroke over Bella Skinner, who won the AJGA event in Bluffton in 2011.

Tomlinson is ranked No. 94 in the AJGA's Polo Golf Rankings, best in the field. The Gainesville, Fla., native has claimed nine top-10 finishes in AJGA events.

Fourteen-year-old Andy Zhang, who this month became the youngest player to compete in the U.S. Open, shot 2-over-par 74 and is tied for fifth. Augusta State recruit Meechai Padungsiriseth, the highest-ranked boys player in the field, shot 3-over 75 and is tied for 11th.

Rushton, Cheng and Ozaki are each students at title sponsor Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy. Despite the familiarity with the area, the private Bear Creek course has been a new experience, Cheng said.

"The greens were really nice," he said. "But the weather got really bad the back nine."

Cheng reached 4 under through seven holes before making consecutive bogeys before the turn. The Taiwan native has been with the Hank Haney school two years, but said he didn't begin to improve until receiving some mental training during the past year.

He is playing his second AJGA event.

"The only thing I'm not used to is the pace of play (requirement)," he said. "I got kind of rushed on the back nine."

Skinner said she slowed down with the increased wind.

"In this kind of weather, you want to start swinging faster, especially when you're into the wind," she said. "And today I did a really good job keeping a good tempo and just swinging nice and smooth when it was into the wind and when it mattered. And some shots came out really well."

Skinner, a rising junior from Cumming, Ga., has five top-10 finishes in AJGA events. She won the 2011 Junior All-Star at Hilton Head in a playoff at Berkeley Hall.

And though the course and field are different this week, Skinner said she is comfortable here.

"For some reason, the way these kind of ocean courses set up, set up really well for me," she said. "I was really excited to get back to Hilton Head, especially it being where I won last year. It feels good, and I kind of have a good vibe going into it."

Hank Haney IJGA Junior Open

Bear Creek Golf Club, Par 72

First round results

Boys

Chris Williams 72

Matt Cheng 72

Shota Ozaki 72

Eric Edwards 73

Matthew Rushton 74

Andy Zhang 74

Ryoto Furuya 74

Jake Fendt 74

Austin Zoller 74

Ryan Carpenter 74

Andrew Holloway 75

Ben Reeves 75

David Kocher 75

Davis Morrison 75

John VanDerLaan 75

David Mackey 75

Carson Spears 76

Carson Young 76

David Long 76

Samuel Fuller 76

Preston Dooley 76

Austin Morrison 77

Paul Kester 77

Ben Wolcott 77

Michael Lee 77

Meechai Padungsiriseth 78

Ben Montgomery 78

William Voetsch 78

David Gao 78

Kevin Slayden 78

Zach McLain 79

Will Miles 79

Jalen Ledger 79

Trey Guy 80

Nicolas Cavero 80

Michael Anderson 81

Joey Hearn 81

Matthew Plunkett 81

Zach Stark 81

Anthony Infante 82

C.J. Wagner 82

Brooks Moody 82

Chandler White 82

Andrès Arango 83

Daulet Tuleubayev 83

Brandon Bennett 83

Eliott Azoulay 83

Peyton White 84

Samuel Odi 84

Sean Keane 85

Alex Handy 85

Matthew Beringer 85

Pureun Kim 85

Gregory Henion 85

Taylor Guilbeau 86

A.T. Cashwell 88

Taylor Hall 91

Girls

Taylor Tomlinson 72

Isabella Skinner 73

Madison Lellyo 74

Kelly Whaley 74

Jordan McKelvin 75

Ailin Li 75

Clementina Rodriguez 76

Victoria Allred 77

Jia Xin Yang 77

Maria Alejandra Merchan 78

Lauren Stephenson 78

Nicole Autrique 78

Sarah Burnham 78

Ashley Holder 79

Maria Andreina Merchan 79

Abbey Williams 81

Macy McRaney 82

Morgan Gonzales 82

Martina Bertuccioli 83

Radi Sauro 86

Sarah Thomas 94