Hsieh Yu-Ling (謝瑀玲) set the high pace on Wednesday when she posted a 7-under 65 and led by three strokes in the first round of the TLPGA Future Open presented by High Tech Charity. The low amateur honor went to Lai Yi-Ting (賴怡廷) who opened with a 3-under 69.

With her short game catching fire, Hsieh used one eagle, five birdies against zero bogeys to reach for a lowest career round at 7-under. “I mis-hit a few chips, but overall, I couldn’t really ask for feeling any better,” said Hsieh. “I’m glad I stayed patient on those shots and save pars. I felt very comfortable with my irons and putter all day, which gave me lots of confidence considering some of the most horrendous conditions could come tomorrow.”

Players were making sure they got to hunt down as many birdies as they could on the Tong Hwa Golf Course today, enjoying a rather calm and nice weather, as a typhoon is taking aim to impact Taiwan starting Thursday. “But that’s the same for everyone. You’ve just got to get ready for the worst and deal with it.”

“I’ve capitalized on a good feeling here today and the conditions were not bad, so I’m very happy,” said Yeh Hsin-Ning (葉欣寧), who is still looking for her first tour title. The number 7 on the 2015 TLPGA Tour Money List took her chances on the greens with impressive putting to tally four birdies in her bogey-free 68 first round, sitting at solo second and earning a nice cushion for the coming storm.

The recent KENDA Tires TLPGA Open champion and TLPGA Tour number 5 Liang Yi-Ling (梁宜羚), while still recovering from a hand injury that stroke her right after the big victory, posted 1-under at 71 to finish her first round at T11 with Wu Chih-Yun    (吳芷昀), Chang Tzu-Yi (張子怡), Chang Ya-Chun (張雅淳), and Malaysia’s Pan Aretha Herng. “I three-putted on two holes which was a letdown,” said Liang. “But my pain was getting better and I was able to hit some great shots. I hope I get to keep it up tomorrow.

Finishing with the low tournament score last week at the Gem Sheen TLPGA Heritage Tour last week, teen talent Chang Ya-Chun was one shot short of the goal she set for herself for 2-under heading into the TLPGA Future Open. “I wasn’t finishing as strong as I wanted. Some putts were way off,” said Chang, who had four birdies and three bogeys – two of which actually happened on par-5s, but she was taking the positive going into extreme conditions expected for tomorrow. “I don’t feel any pressure on me. It’s just about having fun out there and playing my game.”

The low amateur was Lai Yi-Ting, who wrapped up Day 1 tied with Yu Pei-Lin (余珮琳) and Thailand’s Wannasiri Sirisampant at 69.

Gem Sheen TLPGA Heritage Tour winner and two-time defending champion Shih Huei-Ju (石惠如), carding a first-round 1-over 73 and sitting in a tie for 27th, said that she could have had a few more putts drop, but she is still confident for the rest of the challenge.

This year, the TLPGA Future Open presented by High Tech Charity, formerly known as the Technology Cup, is titled with a new name in connection with the TLPGA Future Challenge Series and features 14 of the top 20 on the TLPGA Tour Money List as Shih looks for a three-peat.

A cut will be made on Thursday and only the top-50 players on the leaderboard and ties will advance to Friday’s final-round. The early wave will tee off tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. with the last group setting off at 9:15 a.m. for the second-round play. The winner will receive a NT$600,000 prize in a total purse of NT$3 million. A hole-in-one prize of a brand new Mercedes-Benz A180 worth NT$1,480,000 is up for grabs on the 168-yard 16th for the first ace through the event.