GREENVILLE — Fans converged on the three golf courses that comprise the BMW Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament Thursday searching for stars. Golfer David Price, on the other hand, was searching for birds.

And he bagged eight of them.

While many people in the gallery at the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg were eyeing playing partner Greg Kinnear, it was Price who took center stage, registering eight birdies to take the lead in the first round of the Nationwide Tour event.

Price — who will celebrate his 40th birthday Sunday — finished at 8-under par, while David Mathis, Matt Hendrix, David Hearn and Peter Tomasulo are all tied for second at 7-under.

“I made a long slider on the second hole and it was off to the races for the rest of the day,” Price said. “I putted well. I made a lot of long ones today. It seems like I made everything I looked at.

“It was nice to see them go in for a change.”

Price, a former assistant golf pro before joining the Nationwide Tour, has one victory on the circuit. That came in 2005 when his tournament record 11-under-par was good enough to claim a win in the inaugural Xerox Classic in Rochester, N.Y.

He finished 55th on the Tour money list in 2007.

Hendrix, a former Clemson standout and Thornblade Club member, also made his mark at the Carolina course. The Greenville resident and Aiken native won’t get to play his home course until Saturday, but that worked out fine for him in the opening round.

“The big thing is when you’re playing at home, you get zoned in on things at home,” Hendrix said. “It’s much easier to relax in a hotel room. Today, my mind was at ease.”

Rich Morris, Michael Boyd and Bill Lunde stand at 5-under, two strokes off the pace.

The day, however, belonged to Price, who was 7-under after 10 holes.

“I changed my routine a little bit,” he said. “I have gotten rid of lining up my logo before putts. I didn’t have any expectations heading into this week but I’ve always seemed to play well at this event.”

Wayne Gretzky, who’ll tee off at Thornblade today at 10:20 a.m., combined with partner Chris Nallen to share the lead in team competition at 13-under par. Gretzky and Nallen shot a 59 in the better-ball format at Bright’s Creek in North Carolina, while co-leaders Matt Hansen and Tucker McDonald carded a 59 at Carolina Country Club.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am is the only tournament on the Nationwide Tour where amateurs and celebrities are grouped with Tour professionals in a four-day better-ball competition. Amateurs, celebrities and pros rotate between each of the three courses through Saturday, with the 14 lowest scoring pro-amateur/pro-celebrity teams advancing to play Sunday’s final round at Thornblade Club.

Celebrities will play once at each course and today’s lineup at Thornblade includes Gretzky, Kurt Russell, Patrick Warburton, Sterling Sharpe and Dave Coulier.

The professional winner of the overall 72-hole event will take home $121,500 from the total purse of $675,000, which is one of the largest purses on the Nationwide Tour, as well as a brand new BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

Amateurs and celebrities are competing for individual prizes and cash donations to the charity of their choice out of the beneficiaries selected by South Carolina Charities, Inc.