Murray’s score of 69 gave him a one-stroke lead over Yarrawonga’s Frazer Droop and Yarra Yarra’s Andrew Schone- wille, who both rocketed up the leaderboard with second-round 68s.

“I was solid for first 13 or 14 holes, then hit a poor drive on 15 that cost me a bogey,” Murray said after his second consecutive 69 for the tournament.

“Then I couldn’t get up and down on 16.

“The good thing was I kept cool and hit two good shots in on those last holes — they were always going to be very tough and so to finish birdie-birdie, I can’t ask for much better.

“I definitely picked up a couple of shots (on the field) there.

“I was trying to play smart shots and let the greens help work the ball towards the hole, so it worked out well.”

Murray, who won the 2013 Victorian Amateur title, said not qualifying to defend his crown last month had hurt and made him buckle down.

“I had a poor end to 2014 and missed the cut at the Victorian Amateur, so I took a break, had a quite New Year and I’ve come back out and it has helped me get back on track,” he said.

“I’ve never been in front of a big event like this and to be so is a pretty good feeling.”

Droop, who plays pennant with Murray at Commonwealth, made a bogey on the first hole yesterday to fall to even par, but didn’t make a mistake from there on, including a tough par on the last to be five under.

“I got on a bit of a roll —– four under after 11 — and then I really just hung on from there,” said Droop, who was a runaway winner of the four-round Port Phillip Amateur recently at nearby Kingston Heath and Commonwealth Golf Clubs.

“I’ve been playing OK lately, so it’s nice to keep it going.

“I handled it pretty well in the Port Phillip so, hopefully, I can keep it going tomorrow.”

Today’s third round starts at 8am.