Smyth shot an impressive seven under 65 to sit in a tie for fourth, the 24-year-old near flawless through the first 17 holes before his slip up on the last.

Despite the double bogey, Smyth was thrilled with Thursday's performance.

"If you had told me I was seven under after round one before I even started, I'd be over the moon," Smyth said. "I still am happy, I just hit one bad shot.

"I had it on a string the first 17. I got off to a good start and that set the tone for the day.

"On the 18^th, I felt good, I didn't even for one second think I needed to back off for whatever reason, I just maybe tried to hit it a little bit too hard."

Smyth sits two strokes back from leader Josh Younger, with Min Woo Lee and Justin Warren tied for second at eight under.

Lincoln Tighe had a solid opening round, shooting two under, while Jordan Zunic was one under.

While happy with where he's placed, Smyth acknowledges a significant amount of golf is still to be played throughout the next three days.

"There's a lot of golf to be played. I've got a pretty important stretch of events until Christmas, round one of the NSW Open, I'm not going too crazy in my mind.

"I'm just trying to take it as relaxed as possible, have a carefree attitude and see what my golf game can produce."

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