Sam came into the turn with two under the card, aided by a hole-in-one on the fourth hole.
On the back nine, he birdied again on the 10th hole and bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 18th holes to get him back to par.
Jones, 18, who represents Langland Bay Golf Club in Newton, Wales, is a Welsh international on the national junior and senior golf team and was alongside Sam in the first game of the day at 7am.
Jones had five birdies and five bogeys in a nine-under 35 and 37 to tie for the lead with Sam.
The leading home golf club players are the 2023 Club Champions, Thomas Nesbitt (ADGC) shot an over par 74 and tied for fifth despite a disappointing 40 on the front nine.
In the network department, Damon Mitchell (ADGC) netted 67 with eight handicaps, just one shot ahead of fellow home players charles parkes (10).
Damon de VillierGolf Operations Manager at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, said at the end of the first round, “We played some fantastic golf here today, highlighted by Sam’s ace. There are many more to come over the next two days Golf game to be played and we look forward to seeing how the players handle the 7,039 yard setup tomorrow (Saturday). With a light breeze today (Friday), let’s see how the weather goes over the weekend.
With 63 players in the first round and 13 players all within three shots of the leader, there is a lot at stake in both gross and net scores over the next 36 holes.
The first tee off tomorrow (Saturday) is at 7am with the last three balls from Sam Mullane, Joe Jones and Jaash Parekh (BPGC) at 10.20am.
First-round overall score leader (7,103 yards, par 72)
S. Mullan (JGE) 72
J. Jones (Langland Bay GC, Wales) 72
J. Parekh (President Golf Club, Mumbai, India) 73
J. Wiltshire (AD City GC) 73
T. Nesbitt (ADGC) 74O. Craig (JGE) 74
R. Ahmed (Montgomery GC) 74