An opening round 69 saw Lauren Walsh best-placed of the Irish in action at the South African Women's Open, four shots adrift of the lead.
The 24-year-old was one-over for the front nine, but birdies at 10 and 13, with an eagle at the 11th saw her moving in the right direction.
A bogey at the 17th was sandwiched by further birdies as she sits on on three-under-par, one shot better off than Annabel Wilson, who had a topsy-turvy front nine.
After opening with a par, she followed that with birdie, eagle, triple bogey, bogey, par and birdie to reach the turn at level par.
The back nine was a more controlled affair, picking up shots at 12 and 13 to card a 70.
Anna Foster and Sara Byrne both shot rounds of 73 to sit on one-over-par while Olivia Mehaffey really struggled as she slumped to an 80.
France’s Perrine Delacour and Germany’s Aline Krauter share the lead at Erinvale Country & Golf Estate.
Delacour carded a bogey-free round with an eagle on the third hole to make it a solid start.
The 31-year-old, who plays on both the LPGA and LET, kept the momentum going with a birdie on the next hole and went on to add four more to her scorecard.
She captured her first LET title at the 2024 Dormy Open Helsingborg in Sweden and will be aiming to add a second to her name this week.
Krauter dropped her only shot of the day to finish seven-under par (65), in sunny and still conditions.
She had eight birdies across the front and back nine so kept consistent throughout the 18 holes.
