Little-known Australian golfer Daniel Nisbet has rocketed to the top of the New Zealand Open leaderboard with a nine-under-par 63.
Nisbet is tied for first in Queenstown with American Jarin Todd and Japanese player Tatsuya Kodai, who has surged late on Thursday's opening day.
"It was a pretty solid day, just keeping bogeys off the card - it's always a goal to go bogey-free and then get a couple of close ones," Nisbet said.
Elsewhere, fellow Australians Andrew Dodt, Andrew Martin and Travis Smyth are tied for fourth, one shot behind Nisbet, Todd and Kodai.
New Zealander Josh Geary is equal 11th with a six-under 66, alongside compatriot Gareth Paddison, and one stroke ahead of young gun Nick Voke.
Kiwis Ryan Fox and Michael Hendry struggled in the first round - both tied for 86th.
In a tough day for local golfers in Queenstown, Fox and Hendry finished with two-under-par 70s - seven shots off the pace. The best-ranked Kiwi is Harry Bateman in a tie for seventh.
South Korean star KJ Choi is tied with Fox and Hendry in 86th, while Japanese amateur Shoukun Yamashita nailed a hole-in-one.
"The conditions are perfect, which is why there are so many low scores - I'm looking forward to playing The Hills tomorrow," Todd said.
"I had a blast in my practice round there on Tuesday."
The field will be cut to 60 players after Friday's second round, before the final two rounds are played out this weekend at Millbrook Resort.
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