Chen Ling-Jie (陳伶潔) and Supamas Sangchan shared the lead after the first-round of the inaugural Friends of TLPGA Open on Tuesday at the Gold Coast Golf and Country Club.

They posted matching 71s to lead by one shot in windy conditions.

Huang Hsiao-Han (黃筱涵), who snatched a birdie on her first hole on the 10th and followed it up with an ace on the par-3 11th, struggled with the wind later in the day and dropped into a tie for second with Samaporn KhangKhun, Phannarai Meesom-Us, and Chou Yi-Tsen (周怡岑).

“The sun was so bright that no player or caddie in our group actually saw it in, but then I realized I just made a hole-in-one. It’s an incredible feeling. It’s a first in my 15-year career,” said a joyful Huang on her 7-iron effort from 156 yards. “I’ve been practicing my tee shots a lot, and I think I did well in today’s conditions, although I did still make some bad mistakes which led to a couple of double-bogeys. Overall, still a decent round for me. Hit 14 greens. Hopefully I’ll stay as consistent tomorrow, and I’ll have to pay more attention to the wind direction. It was a bigger factor than I had expected.”

Thailand’s Supamas Sangchan made four birdies and three bogeys to find herself atop the leaderboard with a 1-under 71. “This is a pretty difficult golf course with some firm greens. I didn’t adjust well to the green speed on the front nine, but I think I was figuring it out soon enough and I was able to create some more chances for myself on the back nine,” said Sangchan. “I’ll have to have a clear head on how the wind plays into effect, if I’m here to stay at the top.”

Chen Ling-Jie got three birdies and two bogey to be the co-leader on Day 1. She will be playing in the leaders’ final group for the first time tomorrow in the second round. “I missed a few short putts. I could play a lot better, so I was a little surprised that I’m sitting in the lead,” said Chen. “But everyone is so close at the moment, especially with the wind playing a big part here at the Gold Coast. It’s anybody’s game. I’m not feeling the pressure, though. I’ll try not to be distracted from the score of other players and just play my game.”

Ku Meng-Cheng (古孟宸), starting from the back nine, birdied her first hole but plummeted down to 4-over par through just 7 holes after making five bogeys. “The wind was tough to judge. I kept hitting short,” said Ku. But she regrouped well in the second half and brought it back up to 1-over. She’s tied for 7th with three other players.

P.K. Kongkraphan, the TLPGA WPG Open champion in May, fell into a tie for 14th at 3-over. She held a red number through 11 but made four consecutive bogeys from 12 to 15. “The wind was okay during practice but it picked up so much today, making a strong influence. It’s also my first experience at the Gold Coast here, still kind of figuring things out. I think I’ll play with more confidence tomorrow and hopefully get back into the top,” said the Thai star.

The first annual Friends of TLPGA Open tees off this week at the Gold Coast Golf and Country Club in New Taipei, Taiwan. 84 pros and 7 local amateurs, gathering from Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and all around Taiwan, will be vying for a NT$540,000 top prize in the NT$3 million TLPGA Tour event.

This marks the first time since 2016 the TLPGA Tour travels back to the New Taipei’s Gold Coast Golf and Country Club. Two hole-in-one prizes will be up for grabs on Hope No.11 and No.15.

The “Friends of TLPGA” was founded two years ago by a group of golf-loving local entrepreneurs. They established a three-year based sponsorship program, giving 30 selected TLPGA players direct financial aid on a monthly basis, thanks to the donation of 70 “Friends of the TLPGA”. This week witnessed the very first Friends of TLPGA Open.