Early to rise, and early to play Friday spelled success for several golfers at the 2008 Century Bank Rising Star Open at the Texarkana Golf Ranch.

Only one player (Jerrett Hamilton) shot under par in the afternoon, but that wasn’t the case early with 14 golfers in the red, including a pair of 5-under-par 67s (Robert Gwin and Patrick Sullivan). Shortly after those two signed their scorecards, Kevin Dillen, of Paris, Texas, recorded the day’s best score with a 66 that featured a 6-under 30 on the back nine.

Dillen, Gwin and first round leader John Elizondo head a group of...