Chien Pei-Yun (錢珮芸) fired a 4-under-par 68 first-round to take a three-shot lead at the Chung Cheng Heritage Tour (Autumn) over Chen I-Wen (陳依妏) and Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺).

The Chung Cheng Heritage Tour is a 36-hole pro-junior event where the pro event is staged concurrently with the amateur and junior events, creating rare learning environments for the next-generation youths to play up close with the experienced TLPGA pro golfers. Chien will tee off in the leader’s group at 9:05 a.m. tomorrow for the final 18 holes. The tournament is held on the Central and the South courses in the Chang Gung Golf Club.

Chien took advantage of seven birdies to compensate for a double-bogey and a bogey through the opening round. The double-bogey happened on the par-5 third when she had to take a penalty stroke for a lost ball to the right. She erased the mistake with three birdies on the next four holes, including a hole-out from 27 feet on the fifth green. Chien needed 29 putts only.

She dropped the only other shot when she three-putted on hole 12, which led to a bogey, but the precision displayed in her irons today saw birdies continue flying on the back nine. She added four to her tally, which put her three shots clear of Chen I-Wen and Chen Meng-Chu. Chen Meng-Chu is looking to rewrite the history with a fourth consecutive Chung Cheng Heritage Tour victory.

“I felt like the swing changes I have been working on over the last three months with Miss Huang Yueh-Chyn (黃玥珡) are paying off,” Chien expressed her thanks to the former Japan Tour champion. “We’ve been putting work on an abbreviated striking, especially with the way I swing with my hands. I can see the improvement in my control immediately.” Chien has passed the LPGA’s qualifying stage 2 and will fight to get her ticket in the stage 3 starting in December.

Chen Meng-Chu, the three-time defending champion having won the Chung Cheng Heritage Tour (Spring) this April and both editions in 2014, was hit with a fever yesterday but was trying everything she could to come back to her favorite course.

She started the day birdie-birdie, making an impressive total of six birdies against only two bogeys through just 12.

“I was still a little dizzy in the morning actually, so I am pretty happy with how I kept my concentration in the competition today,” said Chen. “Could have been better, though, on those last few holes especially.” Chen’s putter went off and bogeyed hole 15, 16, and 17 in a row, moving back out tied for second at one-under-par 71 with Chen I-Wen.

Co-host to the Chung Cheng Golf Development Foundation for the Chung Cheng Heritage Tour, the Tseng Yani Internationl will continue to offer eight playing chances for the top finishing junior girls (aged between 11 to 18) to take part in the Yani Tseng Swinging Skirts Golf Camp, taking place at the National Golf Country Club during December 9-12, which promises the stand-out graduates free flights to the U.S. for AJGA’s 2016 Yani Tseng Invitational Presented by Swinging Skirts.

This week plays as the final Heritage Tour stop for the 2015 TLPGA Tour season. The field is comprised of 42 TLPGA members and 61 amateur and junior athletes. The pros will be vying for a purse of NT$600,000 and the winner will take NT$71,000.