First staged in 2002, the TLPGA & Royal Open moves into its 17th edition this week. The Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club will play host to 108 players from 10 countries, who will battle it out for the NT$8 million purse, second richest on the yearly schedule. The winner after three rounds, 54 holes will take away NT$1.5 million; the runner-up pockets NT$760,000.

Parinda Phokan will be hoping to continue her glittering form on the TLPGA Tour. The Thailand native is aiming at her third TLPGA Tour victory in 2019.

2018 and 2016 champion, Taiwanese Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) and Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) are also in the field.

“We are delighted to announce the increase in prize money from NT$6 million to NT$8 million this year,” president of the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club, Liao N.C. said, who also announced the “Royal Experience” campaign on Sep 2-5, offering members with tournament-level conditions at discounted green fee.

“I would like to thank again the Liao family and the Royal Kuan-Hsi Club for their support to ladies’ golf. It’s been 17 years of celebration of some of the finest women’s golf in Taiwan. It’s incredible that we’ve seen so many players grow on their success at Royal and go into a new, better chapter of their career,” said TLPGA chairwoman Cheng Mei-Chi.

Fifteen of the top-20 on the 2019 TLPGA Tour money list, including defending champion Chen Yu-Ju, no.3 Babe Liu (劉嬿), no.4 Chen Hsuan (陳萱), no.5 Lee Hsin (李欣), no.6 Lin Tzu-Chi, no.7 Chang Ching-Ling (張靖翎), and no.8 Huang Ching (黃靖), will make their return to the historic venue.

Chen Yu-Ju recently became the first Taiwanese player to win on the Korea LPGA’s developmental tour (at April’s Hanse-Phoenix CC Dream Tour 3rd Tournament).

Babe Liu is riding a fine form after conquering the Kaohsiung Ladies Open for Charity field earlier this month. Promising teen Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), pro players Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺) and Chen Szu-Han (陳思涵) will hope to best their performance in the previous edition where they finished in equal third.

Parinda Phokan, who already won on two occasions this year at the Hitachi Ladies Open and the SAMPO Ladies Open, will lead a 27-player Thai contingent. Arpichaya Yubol, winner of the 2019 ICTSI Manila Ladies Classic, a co-sanctioned event by the TLPGA Tour and the Ladies Philippines Golf Tour, and Chonlada Chayanun, enjoying recent victories on the Thailand LPGA Tour and the China LPGA Tour, are expected to be top contenders as well.

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 champion. Huang has etched her name on the tournament history the second time after conquering the 2009 field.

LPGA major titlist Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) was the 2008 winner.

A cut will be made on Saturday after 36 holes to the low 50 and ties. The rolling greens on the Kuan-Hsi Golf Course, one of the largest golf resorts in Taiwan, could provide plenty of challenge to the ladies this weekend. Putting skills should be key.

The competition layout of the 2019 TLPGA & Open is set at 6,332 yards long.

A bonus cash prize of NT$30,000 is on offer for player who would rewrite the low-round record of the tournament on 9-under 63. The record was set by Taiwanese Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) in the 2017 event.