Chen Ling-Jie (陳伶潔) gave herself a one-shot lead after carding a 4-under 68 in the first-round of the SAMPO Ladies Open. The backdrop this week is the Nan Yi Golf & Country Club.

Thailand’s Supamas Sangchan shot a 69 to come in second place at the moment while Taiwanese amateur Lin Jie-En (林潔恩) sit tied with Thai player Dussavi Soopimjit at 2-under 70.

Chen, who just bagged her first TLPGA Tour victory last week at the LPGT Tour co-sanctioned Party Golfers Ladies Open, extend her impressive recent form to fire five birdies, offset by just one bogey, today in the first-round of the 54-hole event.

“My second shots were not so good actually, but I think I played pretty well around the greens. I didn’t give myself too much of a hard time with the putter. Many of the 2 or 3-footers turned into birdies. So overall it was a great day. My woods were great, too, hitting almost every fairway,” Chen said.

Sangchan committed three bogeys today with some wild tee shots, but well made up for the loss with six birdies. She closed the round with a slight disappointment, though, after she hit a tree on the left fairway and got caught in a pond on the 18th hole, ultimately leaving with a bogey.

Lin Jie-En made an only bogey on the 13th hole but her four birdies throughout the day helped her stay in the top-3 on the leaderboard. “I’m just feeling very comfortable with my game all day. I hope I can keep up the level in the final rounds,” the teenager said.

Former world no.1 Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) (75) and defending champion Tseng Tsai-Ching (曾彩晴) (76) sit in T24 and T34 after Day 1.

“The layout plays a little different from last year. The pins were tucked in some very challenging positions,” said Tseng Tsai-Ching. “I became a bit nervous after the early double-bogey on the 5th, hopefully I’ll quickly settle into the next round and find the top page of the leaderboard.”

Yani Tseng just recently came back to playing in October after taking her second hip surgery. “A little bit rusts, that for sure. But in fact, I’m feeling pretty good right now, with my body, and with the way I was able to play freely. Oh, and weather as well, the conditions have been perfect here at Nan Yi,” said Yani Tseng. “I’ll need more time to test and feel confident again about myself, and hopefully I’ll return to my better level with these the last few events this year. I’ll take them as the final tune-ups before I can return to playing in the U.S. in 2024.”

Thai Yungying Chaiyasith used her 9-iron to record a hole-in-one on no.13 hole; however, she wrapped up the first round in T73 with an unencouraging 8-over 80.

The total purse reaches a record-high NT$4.5 million this year at the fifth annual SAMPO Ladies Open, plus a bonus money of NT$500,000 announced in the pro-am event gala dinner yesterday. 92 players from Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia will vie for the prize through three days from Wednesday to Friday.

SAMPO is one of the top-selling appliance manufacturers in Taiwan.

The 18-hole “Xiu Ju Cup” Senior Ladies Professional Tournament will be held concurrently on Friday. The invitational event features 13 senior golfers who will battle for a NT$600,000 purse.

Second-round play is scheduled to begin at 7:00. The leaders’ group, including Chen, Sangchan, and Lin, tee off at 9:30. A cut will be made after tomorrow’s second round to filter the field down to the top-50 and ties.