80 of Asia’s best female golf athletes from seven countries, joined by 13 elite local amateurs make up the 93-player field competing for the top honor at the inaugural Tainan Professional Golf Ladies Open. The tournament will run through Wednesday to Friday at Tainan’s Nan Yi Golf Club.

The Tainan Professional Golf Ladies Open is the 16th leg out of 18 of the 2018 TLPGA Tour, featuring a purse reaching NT$3 million; the winner on Friday will take home NT$540,000. There will be a cut to the top-50 and ties after the second-round.

Five of the top-6 on the TLPGA Tour money list has entered this week, headlined by the no.2 ranked Babe Liu (劉依貞) and two-time winner this year, the no.6 ranked Huang Ching (黃靖), who triumphed at the TLPGA Tour and the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour co-sanctioned “ICTSI Champion Tour” in Tagaytay City as well as the Orient Masters Wuhan Challenge on the China LPGA Tour. Huang is now standing as high as no.7 on the CLPGA Tour money leaderboard.

Thailand’s Chonlada Chayanun shares the same feat, winning the TLPGA Tour and CLPGA Tour co-sanctioned CTBC Ladies Open and the Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Orient Golf Challenge, which pumped her as the sixth highest player in the CLPGA Tour money list. Her compatriot Kanyalak Preedasuttijit, ranked one place higher, will look to finally lift the victory trophy after five top-10 finishes and a runner-up showing in Wuhan.

Teen sensation Hou Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔), winner of the TLPGA Ladies Open – Nan Pao, and 22-year-old Tsai Hsin-En (蔡欣恩), the recent BNP PARIBAS & TLPGA Heritage Tour champion are also in the field.

TLPGA Tour no.3 Chen Szu-Han and no.4 Lee Hsin (李欣), both had runner-up finishes this year, will hope to carry it one step further.

A traditional Pro-Am event took place on Tuesday in an 18-hole, 4-player scramble format. The team led by Lee Hsin used an impressive 13-under 59 to seal the victory.

The Nan Yi Golf Club can be spotted with 58 sand traps and 11 ponds, offering a great challenge for players as they navigate through the 6,218-yard long competition layout.

“Nan Yi has ever only one goal --- to be the best golfing paradise in southern Taiwan,” said Nan Yi’s president Tsai C.S. “I know that Miss Cheng Mei-Chi, our TLPGA leader, shares the same root as me as we were both born in Tainan. So, I took tremendous honor and delight in bringing this world-class TLPGA tournament into our home city. I truly respect the hard work this lady has put into raising the status of the Tour, and I just couldn’t turn my head away. It’s almost like a responsibility. I hope this new event is here to stay forever.” Cheng has taken the role as a management consultant for Nan Yi after her memorable LPGA Tour win in 1988.

The fairways on Nan Yi are mostly south-north oriented in order to avoid the direct sunlight as golfers take a swing, and to redirect winds to make the course delightfully cool and pleasant in the summer.

The 18-hole international standard track features fairways carpeted with silt grass and doff-grassed greens. The whole layout is kept freshly green all year round. The grand clubhouse is equipped with world-class conference facilities and huge LED screens, and prestigious venues for commercial purposes.

Both competitive and social in character, Nan Yi’s aim is to provide an environment for players to not just socialize and exercise, but also to allow them to enjoy the fun of competition.