Paul Dunne opened with his best round in nine months to scorch into contention in the Challenge Tour's Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open.

The Greystones star (29) who has fallen from 65th to 1,694th in the world over the past five years, made seven birdies in a six-under 66 at Royal Cape Golf Club to share third place with Italy's Matteo Manassero and South Africa's Louis De Jager, one stroke behind Sweden's Christofer Blomstrand and Spain's Ivan Cantero.

Scores

It was his best round since he opened with a six-under 65 in the Canary Islands Championship on 6 May last year, finishing tied 45th.

He has since made just one cut in 14 starts and must divide his time between the Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour as he bids to regain lost confidence and win again.

"Obviously I'm happy enough," said Dunne, who birdied the second, sixth and eight to turn in 33, then came home in 33 as he mixed birdies at the 11th, 12th, 15th and 18th with the lone bogey at the difficult 14th. 

"The wind blew a little but it was not as bad as it has been the practice rounds.

"The course was definitely there for the taking and the greens are rolling nicely, so I hit a few nice shots and capitalised when I could. 

"It was windy when we were warming up and then it calmed down for the front nine.

"It definitely picked up on the back nine again and that stretch from the 13th, 14th and 15th is quite difficult.

"It was enough to make you think all day but not quite enough to get in your head and change how you play.

"I think it's going to pick up a little bit more over the weekend, which I would like to see but the scores were definitely out there if you played well. "

Dunne admits he has struggled from the tee in recent years but after missing the cut in last week's Dimension Data Pro-An at Fancourt,  he feels much more relaxed in more open spaces this week and ready to take on nearby Rondebosch Golf Club tomorrow.

"The course it's good it's treelined so for me if you do miss fairways, you can manoeuvre a shot through the gap if you have one," he explained after knocking in an eight-footer at the 18th. "So that kind of golf suits me as opposed to last week where the fairways were lined with bush. 

"So it's kind of old-school and some parts of it are a little bit Spanish-y and the greens are rolling very very nicely. So it's just about keeping it between the trees And then you've got plenty of chances. 

"Last week I just didn't drive the ball well and I got myself on the back foot very quickly. 

"The links courses are there for the taking If the pins are easy and the tees up, but I was just struggling off the tee, so it was nice to feel like I have a little bit more space on these courses this week and free up a little bit and hit some better shots."

As for the second course, he said: "The other course is very wind-dependent. The greens are tiny. It's so much softer and the greens surfaces are not quite as good, so the strategy is the same, just keep it in play.

"Depending on the wind direction, it can change completely how the course plays.

"I think out here if you can take advantage of the par fives, play sensibly and give yourself wedges from the fairway and just keep the bogeys off the card, the birdies will come."

Blomstrand shot a seven-under 65 at  Rondebosch Golf Club as De Jager shot his 65 at Royal Cape on what was a mixed day for the six Irish in action.

Niall Kearney is tied sixth after making six birdies in a five-under 67 at Rondebosch where Tom McKibbin shot a bogey-free 68 to lie tied 12th.

Cormac Sharvin and John Murphy are joint 59th after carding one-under-par 71s at Royal Cape while Gavin Moynihan had three birdies in a two-over 74 at Rondebosch to share 147th.

Blomstrand, of Sweden, had set the target earlier in the day at Rondebosch Golf Club, before Cantero Gutierrez joined him at the top of the leaderboard by birdieing the final hole at Royal Cape Golf Club to share a one-stroke lead, with DP World Tour winners Paul Dunne and Matteo Manassero joined by South African Louis de Jager in third place on six under par.

This week's Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open is held across two courses in the Mother City - Royal Cape and Rondebosch - with the field being split and playing one round on each of the two courses across the opening two days, before those making the second round cut compete in the final two rounds at Royal Cape over the weekend.

Cantero carefully navigated the tight, tree-lined layout at Royal Cape to take a share of the lead and the 26-year-old placed an emphasis on driving the ball well as key to his excellent start.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “My game is really solid. I played a lot of drivers on this course and if you hit it straight, it’s a lot easier because you use wedge all the time. My driver is my best club and it was good today.

“I like the course. It’s straight, and if you hit good drivers, you’re close to the greens and it’s good for me because I’m very straight with the driver.

“I think Rondebosch is different. The grass on these greens is more difficult for me to see the lines, but it’s the same; one ball, driver, irons, I’ll be ok.”

Blomstrand, meanwhile, was pleased with his seven-under-par opener at Rondebosch Golf Club, despite not feeling as though he played as well as his score suggests.

“It was quite good actually,” he said. “There was a lot of wind today so it’s quite tough. Honestly, it didn’t feel that great but I scored really well, so I’ll take that.

“Last week was my first week of golf since last October. It’s fun to be back out there but it’s great to be back playing down here.

“It’s been a long time since I played any nice golf down here but it’s always nice to be here. Back home now is cold with snow, so it’s great to be here.”

Italy’s Manassero, a three-time DP World Tour winner, and South Africa’s de Jager both carded bogey-free six-under-par rounds of 66 at Rondebosch to join Ireland’s Dunne, who teed it up at Royal Cape, in a tie for third place.

New Zealander Daniel Hillier, Swedish duo Niklas Lemke and Robin Petersson, Dutchman Lars van Meijel, Kearney and France’s Adrien Pendaries are a shot further back in a tie for sixth place.

The second round of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open will begin at 6:50 am local time on Friday with Royal Cape hosting the half of the field who teed it up at Rondebosch on day one, and vice versa.