The TLPGA Tour heads for Tong Hwa Golf & Country Club in Taipei, Taiwan as the top Tour players return after just less than 72 hours to compete at the 2016 Yeangder TLPGA Open. This will be the fifth time the Yeangder TLPGA Open has featured a women’s event and a strong 102-player field has assembled.
On Sunday, 16-year-old Thai prodigy Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul emerged victorious at the season-opening Hitachi Ladies Classic and she will be back in action on Wednesday for the first round of the NT$3 million Yeangder TLPGA Open. Muangkhumsakul and her compatriot Wichanee Meechai went into a play-off in last season’s event with Meechai edging for her first TLPGA Tour victory. Meechai is looking to take her second Tour win, while Muangkhumsakul is seeking her third—she captured her first TLPGA Tour pro title at just 15 in 2014 at the Party Golfers’ Open.
87 pro players, including 16 from the top 20 on the 2015 TLPGA Tour Money List, and 15 Taiwanese amateurs will tee it up on the Tong Hwa golf course tomorrow morning for the second tournament on the 2016 calendar starting at 7:00 a.m., and there’s a good selection of teenage talents entering.
Ladies European Tour (LET) member Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) was three-shots shy and came in second last week at the Hitachi Ladies Classic. Cheng actually has recorded four Tour wins in her amateur career and is taken as Taiwan’s next great star but hasn’t really got a taste of the same success after turning pro in December, 2014. The 18-year-old is hoping the year on the LET will gain her enough wisdom and perspective and the dream will finally come true on Friday.
Also in attempt to grab a maiden victory is 17-year-old Shi Yuting (石昱婷), the first official TLPGA Tour member from China, who has earn a solo second at the TLPGA Tour’s 2015 year-end TLPGA Open, an equal third finish at the CTBC Ladies Open last September, and a solo fourth ending just last week—there is no goal for her other than to win.
Chang Ya-Chun, 15, took her very first low-amateur honor after a play-off triumph right here last year. The score would put her in a tie for eighth among the pros. Chang moved her training base to the U.S. for the second half of last season and will sure be a name to keep an eye on this week.
Among the local favorites to secure the title are 2013 winner Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆), 2014 runner-up Hsieh Yu-Ling (謝瑀玲) (the winner in the 2012 Yeangder Invitational event), 2013 runner-up and 2015 TLPGA Tour prize money winner Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛), TLPGA Tour no.3 Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒), and Japan LPGA Tour members Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎), and Wei Yun-Jye (魏筠潔). Tsai and her amateur teammates came out on top together with a 7-under 65 in a Pro-Am event held today.
2015 Tour titlists Chen I-Wen (陳依妏), Liang Yi-Ling (梁宜羚), both from Taiwan, Michelle Koh of Malaysia, and Nontaya Srisawang representing Thailand will be in action tomorrow as well.
A cut will be made to the low 50 and ties after 36 holes on Thursday. The venue Tong Hwa Golf & Country Club, at 6,356 yards for this year, is set to test the women on and around the greens. Cold wind, large water and sand hazards will also challenge the golfers swinging in this creative, steep layout.
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