Charley Hull and Lydia Ko four shots adrift after opening round of New Zealand Women's Open

Charley Hull and world No 1 Lydia Ko are four shots off the pace after the first round of the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open.

Starting at the 10th in front of a record crowd at Christchurch, the pair struggled at times on their way to recording two-under-par 70's to end the day tied-14th. 

Hull's only blemish came via a double-bogey at the par-three 16th, while Ko admitted she struggled adjusting to the course despite only posting one dropped shot.  

"It was tough on me today to hit the ball by the hole and be comfortable," Ko said. “Last week (at the Australian Open) you were aiming to pitch 10 metres short of the green and asking it to run up. This week you have to say to yourself, let’s just hit it."

"You watch your opponent come up short them you hit it well past. It was difficult to judge. It is totally different so now I have to get back into the NZ Open mode.”

Anne-Lise Caudal holds a narrow one-shot lead after a birdie-filled six-under 66 in her opening round. The Frenchwoman opened with back-to-back birdies before making two further gains on her first six holes to move four-under early on.

Caudal carded a double-bogey at the 18th after finding the bunker from her tee-shot and then water with her second, but responded positively by picking up four strokes from her back nine. 

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“I hit the ball pretty well, my second shots were really good," Caudal said. "I hit some pretty good shots very close and I was very confident on the putting so that helped me to keep going.”

"I am just going to do the same, shot after shot and focus on the present, if the birdies come great, if not, just keep patient, there is another day on Sunday.”

Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen produced a flawless 67 to join Marianne Skarpnord and Samantha Troyanovich one stroke adrift, while Beth Allen's double-bogey at the last leaves her in the group a further shot back.