Tournament favorite, another Team CTBC Bank player Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) carded a 1-over 73 in her debut round at this event. The world no.28, top-ranked in the 108-player field, made a mess of par-5 10th, hitting into the water hazard twice and ended up with a triple-bogey. Lu is in a share of the 39th place.

Six players sit at equal tenth including local youngsters Chen Ssu-Han (陳思涵) and Huang Ching (黃靖). Second round play will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning from 1st and 10th hole. Leaders’ group will open their day at 10:20 a.m..

Yang Taoli, mother of a 2-year-old boy, made five birdies, three in a row on holes 11 to 13, against just one bogey. “I felt great, felt very relaxed. I tended to get nervous in tournaments but after the years, I felt like I’ve learned how to find the balance and to play the way as I wish in competition,” said Yang, who needed only 28 putts in her opening-round 68 hitting 77% greens in regulation.

“I play mostly on the Japan LPGA Tour but actually I’ve competed on this Orient course for three times at the Hitachi Ladies Classic, which helps me to have a more effective game plan in place,” said Yang.

Tied at the top of the leaderboard is Vitayakonkomol, 26, who turned pro in 2009 and has long been a TLPGA Tour member. She closed out the round bogey-free and it marks the first time Vitayakonkomol is ever in or in a share of the lead in a TLPGA Tour event. A high percentage play and great iron control set up many opportunities for the Thai and she converted four of them. Vitayakonkomol needed 30 putts.

“It was going just like what I had on the Symetra Tour in April. It was incredible,” said Yeh Hsin-Ning on her 2nd-hole ace. “It looked great when it was off my 8-iron. I shouted ‘in’ and saw it make a bounce and sink.”

Another highlight of Yeh’s round came at the 6th hole where she chipped in from 15 yards. She made another two birdies and had one bogeys till no.6, but she made pars all the way back to the clubhouse. “Some nice surprises here and there, but I knew I wasn’t having the best day with my iron. Only made thirteen greens,” said Yeh. “27 putts is okay but I didn’t really made a whole lot of greens.”

Home favorite Teresa Lu struggled with a slow start on Thursday, making just two birdies and suffered a triple-bogey on the 10th. It was Lu’s maiden appearance at the CTBC Ladies Open.

Lu was going for the flag with a 3-wood following a successful tee shot landing on the fairway, however, it winded up in the water to the right. Lu then tried to make up for the loss with an aggressive fourth shot from 80 yards on the bank and ended again in the pond. She finally took eight shots on the hole. “Not at all,” Lu said when asked if it was for the pressure being a clear favorite and all the expectations. “I just have not really found my rhythm on this course yet. A lot of putts came short.”

Shi Yuting carded a bogey-free round with three birdies to get in contention for her second title of the season. The Chinese teen star had prefect statistics on both fairways hit and greens in regulation.

The CTBC Ladies Open provides not just a stage for international golfers but a platform to inspire and raise awareness of social issues. It’s been in partnership with the CTBC Charity Foundation for the last five years of the event. There are 108 women from seven countries around Asia competing this week at the CTBC Ladies Open, co-sanctioned by the TLPGA Tour and the China LPGA Tour with world ranking points on offer.