The Red Elephants shot a 150 for the day, paced by Parks Brown with a 36, good for second place in the individual standings. North Hall shot a 156 behind a first-round 37 from Ryan Matthews.
Flowery Branch is in third place at 162 and Johnson is fourth at 165, led by first-round individual leader Luke James, who fired a 35 after the first nine holes.
Gainesville had three players fire in the 30s to grab the lead. North Hall coach Robert Mills said they are in striking distance but that it will take a solid round on the final day of the two-day event to pull off the comeback.
"A few years ago we were up six shots and lost on the final day so it's definitely possible (to stage a comeback)," Mills said. "But we'll have to play extremely well. It will take the best round we've played this year. (Monday) was one of the best rounds of the year so far so hopefully we can come out (Tuesday) and improve on that."
Defending individual champion senior Andy Bracewell of North Hall is five shots back after an opening-round 40.
Johnson coach Jeff Steele said James had a solid day.
"He has been playing very well so far (this season) and I thought he had a good round," Steele said. "He's definitely going to have some competition but he's capable of winning it."
The second round is scheduled to tee off at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Luke James (far right) lines up a putt Monday during the first round of the Hall County Championships. The Johnson senior leads Gainesville's Parks Brown (middle) by one stroke. Also pictured: Cole Morgan (senior) from Chestatee High School.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/3/246487