Four players sit in a tie atop the leaderboard, including Taiwan’s Yu Pei-Lin (余珮琳), Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺), 17-yaer-old amateur Chen Chih-Min (陳之敏) and Thailand’s Pennapa Pulsawath, after all shooting 68s in the first round of the Party Golfers’ Open.

The quad leads a packed leaderboard that has ten players within three shots of the lead. Shih Huei-Ju (石惠如), Babe Liu (劉依貞), Ashlee Dewhurst, Wichanee Meechai, and Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul are in a tie for fifth and two strokes back at a 2-under 70.

After a day that saw several players jockeying in and out of a share of the lead, Taiwan’s Yu Pei-Lin fired four birdies and one eagle and stood out with a 34-34 68 performance. “It’s been a long time I feel so much focused and in the zone,” said Yu. “The conditions at the National Garden Golf Course were incredible, and the weather was really nice that I could really go for my shots. It’s feels great.”

Yu used a total of just 25 putts, which included a 21-foot birdie hole-out on the par-3 5th. “My short game was sharp. I hope I can keep up this momentum to the end.” The only eagle scored today was on the 13th hole by Yu, when she hit her second shot to 13 feet, and drained it decisively following a small left curve.

Chen Meng-Chu used five birdies and one bogey to catch up with Yu in the lead. Chen said the putters and wedges were critical on this course and she is happy how she handled herself throughout the round.

“For the last few tournaments, I was not feeling very comfortable with the approaches and my putter. So before this week I’ve come through quite some practice with them,” said Chen. “Especially on this course, there are almost going to be some birdies. So you have to make sure you take advantage of it with those short shots.”

17-year-old, home course amateur Chen Chih-Min also moved herself among the leaders after a solid first-round display with 15 fairways hit. 26-year-old Thai girl Pennapa Pulsawath is the fourth player with an opening 68. Her previous TLPGA Tour highlight was a T4 at the 2012 Taifong Ladies Open, but she was making a jump on the rankings on the China LPGA Tour this year with a runner-up and three top-10 showings and looking to push the record even further.

The purse of the inaugural Party Golfers’ Open reaches NT$2.5 million. The Party Golfer club is an amateur golf team comprised of local entrepreneurs, who share the passion for the golf sport and support the vision of the TLPGA with the idea of the inception of this Party Golfers’ Open.

77 golfers from around the world will be competing over three days, 54 holes, and chasing the first-place prize of NT$500,000 and the top finishing Taiwanese will earn a bonus NT$300,000 cash prize. Tee time for tomorrow will be at 7:00 in the morning.