It’s a good day for golf at Riverside Municipal Golf Course in Portland, and the 2010 Charlie’s Portland Maine Open is well under way.

Follow along below as we bring you live updates from Riverside, updated periodically all day long.

6:31 p.m. – This will be our last entry. Our final group is set, with Mark Stevens of Concord, New Hampshire joininf Kampmann and Cone. Sandell and Tim Desmarais will be in the next-to-last group, in at 66 and 67, respectively. Hope to see everyone back here tomorrow.

5:42 p.m. – We have another low number. Maine chapter pro Greg Sandell out of Boothbay fired a 6-under 66, which included six birdies in a row from No. 12 to No. 17. He nearly made it seven with a chip on 18.

4:56 p.m. – Rumblings are that Texas-based golfer Don Robertson, a former champ from the early 1980s, is also out on the course lighting it up. He would be about an hour from finishing.

4:49 p.m. – Ricky Jones has come in at 2-under 70 to tie Jason Gall for low amateur honors to this points, and Jerry DiPhilippo, a former champion, has carded a 4-under 68.

4:23 p.m. – The golfers are just about to start posting scores from the afternoon rounds…Should get crazy around here soon, and we’ll see if anyone can match Dustin Cone’s 63 from the morning session.

3:25 p.m. – Weather-wise, we dodged a bullet here that apparently the folks up in northern Androscoggin and Kennebec Counties did not dodge. Still sunny, and the radar looks good. As for golfers, we are getting closer to having some scores come in, and it helps that some of the earlier tee times this afternoon are some of the better golfers. Stay tuned!

2:58 p.m. – More clouds starting to pop up here and the breeze is blowing. Actually comfortable out there for now. A few more groups continue to turn as we get closer to seeing some more scores. As it stands now, golfers at 73 or better will make the cut, as all golfers within 10 strokes of the lead will advance to Wednesday’s second round. The bubble right now includes Ron Bibeau, the host pro at Riverside and former pro at Martindal and Turner Highlands.

2:45 p.m. – Four groups from each side have turned now, including top amateur Ricky Jones, who just qualified for the U.S. Pulbic Links championship at Riverside within the last couple of weeks. Perennial contender Eric Egloff of Maryland should be coming through shortly.

2:19 p.m. – All of the remaining golfers are now on course. Barring weather issues, we ought to be finished her by about 6:30, or at least know the leaderboard by that point. A few of the groups from the second wave have begun to make the turn.

2:06 p.m. – The first round is officially halfway through. Here are the leaders, to this point:

Cone, Dustin -9

Kampmann, Peter -7

Marzenell, Sammy -4

Higgins, Eric -4

Carbone, Michael -4

Parker, Tommy -4

For a complete list, visit www.mesga.org

1:54 p.m. – A former Maine Amateur champ, Eric Higgins, has carded a 4-under 68 also. Things getting crowded among the good scores now.

1:48 p.m. – The first wave of golfers has almost entirely finished, and it appears that 63 will be the lead at the halfway mark of Day 1. Sam Marzenell of Cape Arundel leads in the Maine pro division after a 4-under 68, also good for a tie for third overall. Allan Menne of Poland Spring is the low Maine senior pro at the moment, at 2-under 70. Weather-wise, rain is holding off, but it’s getting hotter.

1:04 p.m. – One-upsmanship to the highest degree here at Riverside. Moments after Peter Kampmann of Connecticut posted a 7-under 65 to take the lead, Dustin Cone, originally from Vermont, came in at 9-under 63. Cone is your leader.

12:40 p.m. – A few more red numbers in, a couple of 3-under 69s from a couple of New York golfers. Rumor has it that a golfer currently on the 17th green is holding at 5- or 6-under. More to follow.

12:03 p.m. – Michael Carbone of Massachusetts has already wrestled the lead away from McGee with a 4-under 68. Scores are going to be low today. MSGA officials already putting 2-under on the second of five scoring boards. Jason Gall, out of Augusta CC, is also in at 2-under.

11:47 a.m. – We have a leader in the clubhouse. The first group in produced our first red number of the day. Ross McGee of Fairfield, in his second year as a pro, fired a 2-under 70, and had a string of four consecutive 3s on the final four holes of his first nine to post the early lead.

Jace Pearson of Auburn, now golfing out of Martindale, was in the same group and finished at 6-over 78.

11:30 a.m. – The first group off the tee is playing the 17th. Defending champ Jim Renner had a bit of trouble on 16 when he bombed his drive right into the fescue beside the 17th tee. He lost his ball, had to re-tee, and still made a 5. In the same group, Shawn Warren, the 2004 champion, made birdie after nearly driving the green on the par-4 hole.

11 a.m. –  One Maine pro who’s been around the block a few times just made the turn off the front nine at 1-under, and he was encouraged personally, but wasn’t about to think his first nine was nearly good enough to be in contention.

“Someone is going to go low today,” he said. “The course is soft, the greens are rolling well, and you can pretty much land it anywhere you want and have it hold.”

Playing in Monday’s pro-am was a detriment, he said, given that today, the greens are running much faster.

“I three-putted three greens because I ran it 20 feet by after being used to yesterday’s speeds,” he said.

10:35 a.m. – Another handful of notable players have made the turn from front to back (or back to front, depending on where they started, I suppose). Ryan Gay, one of Maine’s top amateurs, was disappointed with his front nine. He made the turn, shook his head and was visibly upset.

“Worst front nine of my life,” he said as he drank from his sports drink bottle.

10:15 a.m. – The first wave of golfers is all on course, and four groups on each side of the course have made the turn. The first group of the day, which includes three past champions, is just about on the 14th hole. No reports yet of any scores, but we’ll get those to you as soon as we can.

The weather out here is turning steamy. A morning fog and low cloud cover allowed the first half of today’s golfers to play a little bit in cooler temps, but not any more. The sun is out and baking the course dry, and the humidity is nearly tangible.

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