The TLPGA Tour heads for Hsinchu, Taiwan for the fourteenth edition of the TLPGA & Royal Open as an international field of 104 players from seven countries will be contesting in a three-day, 54-hole stroke play format on Jan 22-24 at the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club. All will be vying for a piece of the NT$6 million purse on offer.

2014 and 2015 two-time champion, Nontaya Srisawang is back in the field for a hat-trick while she will have to make herself ready for some tougher challenges ahead as in this year, all top 15 players on the China LPGA Tour have been invited to compete in the final major of the TLPGA’s January swing.

In the first two tournaments in the 2016 season, Srisawang finished with an equal tenth at the Hitachi Ladies Classic and improved to an eighth-place last week at the Yeangder TLPGA Open, tuning herself to the ideal hitting form that led her to the trophies in the last two years.

Titiya Plucksataporn, the 2013 TLPGA & Royal Open winner also from Thailand, and 16-year-old Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul, the surprise winner in the 2016 Hitachi Ladies Classic, will also start their campaign on Friday.

Among a first ever Chinese invasion in tournament history, teen sensation Shi Yuting (石昱婷) is having good prospects of taking home the glory. She came dominant in December in the TLPGA 2016 QT, becoming the first official TLPGA Tour member from China, and has wrapped up the two events in January both in the top five. Her compatriot Yen Panpan (閻盼盼) will be another player to watch on the weekend.

Last week at the Yeangder TLPGA Open, Pingyung Native Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎) has got plenty to be proud of as she lifted her first career title. She will lead 53 fellow Taiwanese players aiming to secure the home victory including Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉), who finished third in last year’s event, and Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆), who concluded her 2015 season with a triumph at the TLPGA Open and extended her membership on the Japan LPGA Tour as the 45th seed on the 2015 money list. Yao enjoyed another great week last week as well with a T2 finish at the Tong Hwa Golf & Country Club.

15-year-old Chen Ching-Tzu (陳靜慈), fresh off her career-first low-amateur honor at the Yeangder TLPGA Open, will also be teeing for back-to-back amateur wins this week.

On the 2016 TLPGA & Royal Open pre-tournament conference, Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛) was handed the trophy of the 2015 TLPGA Money Winner by TLPGA chairwoman Liu Yi-Chen. “It’s a big moment in my career. After six years playing on the tour I’m finally seeing myself among the tour’s best. This honor really means a lot to me and I would like to thank all the people and sponsors for helping me to get here,” said Kuo.

“This year we bring in the best players from China LPGA Tour, the competition will be an all-time tough one,” said Liu of the 2016 event. “I recall the days when we just established the Tour, the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club stepped up as our very first partner and has been with us ever since with continuous and generous support. Now it is quite amazing when we look back how the Tour has grown, being officially included into the WWGR system in 2014 and our players in last year alone have bagged 12 world-wide victories to push Taiwan’s country standing from eighth to fourth. I owe tremendous thanks to Royal Kuan-His Club and of course anyone who has been a part of this wonderful journey.”

The TLPGA & Royal Open is the longest running tournament and the first internationally open event on the TLPGA Tour since 2002, when Taiwanese Huang Yu-Chen (黃玉珍) was crowned the first winner. Huang has etched her name on the tournament history the second time when she conquered the 2009 field.

Yani Tseng (曾雅妮), five-time LPGA Tour major champion, is also a former winner in 2008, when she set a course low-round of 8-under 64. Any player who can beat the record will be rewarded a NT$30,000 bonus cash prize provided by the Royal Kuan-His Golf Club.

A cut will be made after 36 holes to the low 50 and ties for the final round on Sunday. Set at 6,334 yards, the rolling greens on the Kuan-His Golf Course, one of the largest golf resorts in Taiwan, could provide plenty of challenges for the pro athletes in the coming weekend.