HAMPDEN — Fans and followers of annual Mass Golf events have almost certainly heard of Joey Lenane by now after last summer’s dominant 10-shot win in the Mass. Amateur Public Links Championship at Ledges Golf Club. And after just one round at the 117th Mass. Am Championship, Lenane’s name was right back at the top of the leaderboard.

The Dedham native and North Carolina State rising senior fired a 4-under round of 68 Monday to tie medalist honors on Day 1 at GreatHorse, a par-72 course stretching 7,600 yards. Leanne was 5-under and had yet to record a bogey heading to the 18th tee box, but dropped a shot after an errant tee shot left him in an unfavorable position in the right rough.

Regardless, Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) played efficient golf to earn him a share of the lead alongside Charter Oak Country Club’s Matthew Johnson and GreatHorse’s Matthew Naumec, the defending champion, entering Tuesday’s second round.

The top 32 scores after Tuesday’s Round 2 will be seeded and compete in match play on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“I feel pretty good,” Lenane said. “I feel like my game is in a really good spot. I just hit it really well off the tee and into the green and gave myself a lot of looks. I think at this course, it can kind of get in your head. It’s pretty intimidating to look at. I try to keep it simple, that was my game plan going into today. I wanted to pick small targets, and I think I did a good job of that.”

After failing to make birdie on either of his first two holes, both of which he felt he could have done, Lenane hit a solid shot on the par-3 3rd (207 yards). He left himself inside 20 feet, and this time he rolled one in for his first birdie of the day.

That kickstarted a 3-under 33 front nine, and snowballed into two more birdies on the 11th and 16th holes before Lenane gave one back on the 18th.

“I had good looks on one and two and I didn’t capitalize on them, so I was a little frustrated at the start,” Lenane said. “I hit a really quality shot in and had like 17 feet. I hit a really good putt and I think that you’re always stealing a stroke if you’re making a birdie on a par 3. So that was a good one to see my first birdie go in early.

Since wrapping up his junior season with the Wolfpack, Lenane has traveled quite a bit playing in Elite Amateur Golf Series events. While those have served as a good preparation tool for him, he’s been waiting for the Mass. Am since the dates were released.

Professional golf is on the horizon for Lenane, which means his time playing in Mass Golf events, something he’s done for many years, is coming to an end. He’d like to put a bow on his Mass Golf career with a title this week.

“This one has kind of been circled on the calendar for a while,” Lenane said. “I didn’t get to play in the Mass. Open, and this is likely going to be my last Mass. Am for hopefully a while with professional golf coming up. So giving it one last go, and hopefully I can go out with a bang. That would be the dream.”

Rounding out Monday’s under-par rounds is Long Meadow Golf Club’s Trevor Drew (69), Oyster Harbors Club’s Alan Rose (70), Worcester Country Club’s Jake Mrva (70), North Hill Country Club’s Andrew DiRamio (70) and Duxbury Yacht Club’s Reese Jensen (71).

Unlike most in that group, Mrva — who just graduated from Fordham University in the spring — had a rocky start to his round. He started 3-over through his first five holes despite feeling like he had put good swings on the ball. Two of his Fordham teammates showed up to support Mrva and surprised him on the third hole of his round. That was the turning point he needed.

A pair of birdies on the 17th and 18th holes (Mrva started on the back nine) ignited quite the run for the Shrewsbury native.

Mrva then hit the turn and immediately birdied the first hole. On the second, a par 5, he hit his tee shot up the right side, seizing his opportunity at hitting the green in two. After running one up in the rough just short of the green, Mrva stood over the ball for his third shot.

His ball was sitting up, meaning he could generate some spin on it. He chipped it in from about 30 yards away for an eagle to cap off a 5-under stretch in four holes. Mrva played the rest of his round even par to card a 2-under round of 70, good for a tie for fifth place.

“I started off hitting it good, but I got a few unlucky breaks,” Mrva, who lost in the Round of 16 in last year’s Mass. Am Championship, said. “I was able to kind of stay [in it] mentally and wait for the good stuff to come. I hit it to a few feet on 17 and then hit a good one out of the bunker on 18 which started the train there. Once you get hot, you keep going with it. But then after you get that stretch, you got to lock back in and finish the round out. It’s not over through 13 holes or whatever.

“I was super afraid of it going long,” Mrva added of his chip on the third hole. “But it ended up just checking up a little bit and trickled right up. I was yelling at it to sit and [my friend] was like, ‘No, it’s in! It’s in!’ And then it dropped in. That was really cool.”

Western Mass. well-represented at GreatHorse

Starting with the two competitors in Hampshire/Franklin County, Country Club of Greenfield’s Cody Booska and Westover Golf Course’s Zach Lebeau were among the list of local talent in the field on Monday. Booska shot a 6-over round of 78 while Lebeau carded a (5)-over round of (77). The cut line is likely to stand around that 5-over number, which means both Booska and Lebeau will have to shoot around even par or better on Tuesday.

Eight members of GreatHorse competed in round one, led by reigning Mass. Am champion Matt Naumec, who shot 4-under and is in a tie for the lead.

Other GreatHorse golfers include A.J. Oleksak (75), Billy Walthouse (76), Cole Banning (77), Ryan Downes (77), Guy Antonacci (78), Steve Wagner (79) and Michael Petrick (89).

Other Western Mass. representatives included Wilbraham Country Club’s Michael McGrath (75), Peter Wurszt (77), Gregory Placzek (80) and Kyle DiFranco (88), Ludlow Country Club had Luis Teixeira (77) and Jack Dias (77) in the field while Longmeadow Country Club’s Tucker Silva (75) and Taconic Country Club’s Jack Coyne (79) also played well.