Four Australian professionals have set the early pace in the New Zealand Open golf championship in Queenstown.

Andrew Dodt, Terry Pilkadaris and Jake Stirling (Victoria) all fired first rounds of six-under-par 66s in the cool morning conditions on the Millbrook course.

They were joined by Scott Strange, who shot the best of the afternoon rounds.

The Australian quartet holds a one-shot advantage over New Zealand’s Mark Brown, China’s Li Hao Tong and three other Australians Andrew Martin, David Bransdon and Ashley Hall.

All of the hot scoring was at Millbrook, with Martin the only professional in the top nine scores posted on Thursday coming from The Hills course.

Tournament drawcard American professional Rocco Mediate opened with an even par 72 to be in a share of 61st place along with New Zealand’s Michael Hendry.

Strange, runner-up in the 2013 NZ PGA Championship, had a bogey-free round and explained why the scores were so much better on his side of the draw.

“There are a few par-5s that guys will get home on, a few short par-4s,” he said of the Millbrook layout.

“The back nine is a bit different but they are playing a few holes up which makes them shorter.

“It definitely feels like you can score there, the greens are a bit flatter. At The Hills, you will have tough putts but at Millbrook you might have a 30-40 footer that is quite flat.”

Brown, who is now based in Tauranga, carded a bogey-free 67 following a diligent preparation at Millbrook.

“I probably spent more time on that course because I haven’t played it much,” he said.

Brown said at the start of the week, with Millbrook hosting the NZ Open for the first time, that his round there would be his most important.