Parker Bell (John Patota Photo)

Bell, who is a rising junior at Florida in the fall, finished as the medalist at the Dallas, Tex., final qualifying site for the U.S. Open, played well in his first major championship, and now leads the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C. after round one.

Bell shot a first-round 6-under 65 on No. 8 and recorded seven birdies and one bogey. He bogeyed No. 3 to start 1-over but played the next 15 holes at 7-under.

"I just knew that there are a lot of birdie opportunities out there and tried to stay patient," Bell told the North & South Amateur after round one. Bell is currently ranked No. 86 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.

Davis Ovard is in solo second place at 5-under, and Nicholas Gross, Brycen Jones, Kelly Chinn, and Xihuan Chang are all T3 at 4-under.

Carson Bertagnole, who is T7 at 3-under, made a hole-in-one on No. 5 in the opening round.

Now, Bell will head to Pinehurst No. 2, where he shot rounds of 77-70 in the U.S. Open and missed the cut by just one shot.

"I played it last week when it was playing a little harder than it will (in round two), but I just want to give myself a lot of looks for birdies," Bell said. "I thought I did a great job of that (today) and just try to keep the ball in front of me off the tee and hit as many quality shots as I can."