It was a three-way shootout at the top of the DP World Tour's Soudal Open leaderboard as the English trio of Dale Whitnell, Sam Horsfield, and Callum Shinkwin led the way after the first round.
All three fired impressive 65s at the Rinkven International Golf Club, with Yannik Paul, Jeff Winther, Alexander Björk, Adrian Meronk and Spaniards Alvaro Quiros and Nacho Elvira at shot further back.
The highest placed South African was Oliver Bekker, two shots behind the leaders after firing a 67, while Hennie du Plessis (68) and Brandon Stone (69) are in contention.
Sam Horsfield was happy with his round, saying that he purposely looked to get good positions to give himself a chance while putting.
"I played really nicely. I kept the ball in play, this is a golf course where positioning is quite important off the tee and I was able to position it nicely to give myself a lot of good looks, and rolled in a few," said Horsfield.