Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was part of a four-way tie for the lead at the end of the opening day of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
Marc Warren and Mikko Ilonen set the clubhouse target at five under par early on Thursday, and Fleetwood and Richard Sterne both matched their efforts in the afternoon.
Fleetwood's countrymen Lee Slattery, David Horsey, Lee Westwood, James Morrison, Andrew Johnston and Richard Bland were one stroke behind the joint-leaders after producing opening rounds of 67, with Sweden's Alex Noren completing the group in a tie for fifth place.
Fleetwood made a dream start, notching birdies at the first and second holes to get to two under.
The 25 year old picked up another shot at the eighth to reach the turn in 32.
After pulling off a superb par save from ten feet at the 12th, Fleetwood knocked in his close-range birdie putt at the 15th to get within a shot of the clubhouse leaders.
It was just one of those days where every putt I hit felt lovely and overall, five under is a great score out there - Tommy Fleetwood
And he finished his first round off with a birdie at the 18th to complete a flawless 66.
Fleetwood was pleased with his performance on a cold October day in Hertfordshire.
He said: "The wind was up this afternoon and then it got cold later on in the day, but definitely when we first went out, it was clear that it was going to be quite a tough day.
"You have to make the most of your chances. I hit it really well. I very rarely hit it out of position and putted lovely. It was just one of those days where every putt I hit felt lovely and overall, five under is a great score out there."
Sterne, starting his round at the tenth tee, made gains at the 13th, 16th and 18th to cover his front nine in 33 shots.
The South African, who finished in a tie for second at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, made back-to-back birdies at the first and second before closing out his round with seven straight pars.
Sterne said: "I played probably the best tee-to-green I have done all year really. I had so many chances and it was just good to feel that control over the ball."
Morning starter Warren, also beginning at the tenth tee, fired a birdie at his first hole before making further gains at the 13th and 16th to reach the turn in 33.
The 35 year old made a stunning start to his back nine, sending his approach at the long second to within a foot of the hole before rolling in for an eagle to jump to the top of the leaderboard.
Warren then sunk his 20-foot birdie putt at the third to move to six under and open up a two-shot lead at the summit.
After safely parring the next five holes, Warren dropped his only shot of the day at the ninth - his last - to fall back to five under.
Warren, whose strong finish in Scotland last week eased any worries he had about securing his card for next season, said: "I wasn't really under too much stress at any time during the round, so it was a really enjoyable round of golf.
"Bogeys probably don't mean quite so much (after last week). It's tough when you're in that sort of situation when you're trying to secure your playing rights and everything else.
"I felt as if I handled that quite well last week and gave myself a nice boost of confidence after a pretty tough summer. So I've carried that confidence into today and hopefully the next three days, as well."
Ilonen made a strong start to his first round, carding an eagle and a birdie on his front nine on his way to reaching the turn in 32.
A birdie at the tenth was followed by a bogey at the next but Ilonen finishing strongly, picking up shots at the 16th and 18th.
After his opening round, Ilonen said: "It was a perfect start. I played some of my best golf on the front nine.
"I sort of lost my rhythm a little bit there halfway through, but came back strongly and made two birdies at 16 and 18, which was nice."
Last week's winner Tyrrell Hatton was among the large group two shots behind the leaders on three under.
