Her compatriot Pennapa Pulsawath, a first-round co-leader, is two shots back at 140 after shooting an even par 72. Another shot adrift is 17-year-old Chen Chih-Min (陳之敏) who posted a 73 for a two-day total of 141..

 

It was a special day for the teenagers. 15-year-old Muangkhumsakul stood patient and strong under a wet and hot Wednesday, using a good stability and an all-around game, to card five birdies and one bogey, which made her one of the only four players to score at under-par and gave herself a two-shot edge at the top of the leaderboard. First-round co-leader, teen amateur Chen Chih-Min overcame a mid-day blip to move back in contention at solo third. Both will be chasing their first TLPGA Tour title.

 

Muangkhumsakul, Chen, and Pulsawath will tee off in the leaders group tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning.

 

Muangkhumsakul, who made a bold decision to turn professional last year when she was just 14, is currently the leader on the Thailand LPGA Tour. Her previous best result among her four outings on the TLPGA Tour was a tie for fourth at the Jing-Du Construction Charity Ladies Open in August.

 

“It was really hot and humid out there,” said the Khon Kaen native. “It was not easy to maintain the energy. But I’ll do my best tomorrow.”

 

The future golf star might have a few more years to go, under the age eligibility rules, to actually take part in the LPGA Tour Qualifying School for a LPGA card, but she will already be making her first appearance at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club in October, as one of the youngest Thai ever to play at an LPGA Tour event, after winning a 12-player wild card play-off last week.

 

Chen, who based her training at the venue this week - National Garden Golf Course, also talked about the tough conditions that kept players from scoring low. “It was very hot, especially with the course having so many ups and downs, which made it hard to really keep a focus on every shot,” said Chen. “For a few times, I found myself kind of rushing a few putts that took me a few more shots than it should.” Two 3-foot misses were counted in the 32 putts she made today, three more than she needed in the first round.

 

The other two first-round leaders Yu Pei-Lin (余珮琳) and Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺) posted 75 and 80 each to slump down the ranks at solo ninth and T18 respectively.

 

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. A total of 77 players will be eying a first-place prize of NT$500,000 and the top finishing Taiwanese will earn a bonus NT$300,000 cash prize.