Japan’s own Seira Oki took the lead with a 5-under 67 on Day 1 of the Japan Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament, a co-sanctioned event by the Japan LPGA’s Step-Up Tour and the TLPGA Tour.

Babe Liu (劉嬿) is the stand-out TLPGA Tour member, who carded a 2-under 70 to sit in a nine-way tie for 11th.

2023 Step-Up Tour Money Leader, Taiwan’s Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) sit in a tie for 20th with a first-round 71.

The JPY20,000,000 tournament features 106 players from the “JSU” Tour and the TLPGA Tour, who play through three days and 54 holes and compete for a JPY3,600,000 top prize. OHK Okayama Broadcasting is the co-organizer.

Current no.7 on Step-Up Tour’s 2023 money leaderboard, Seira Oki fired six birdies today and committed only one bogey to earn a one-shot lead after the first round.

Babie Liu, who was a Step-Up Tour member in 2015, said she felt pretty comfortable today at the Mannou Hills Country Club. Liu played a perfect 3-Wood on the par-5 15th fairway from 226 yards to 27 feet and earned an eagle opportunity, which she didn’t convert and left with just a birdie. Overall, she made a little too many attempts on the greens with 32 putts, but still, Liu scored four birdies from the 9th, 10th, 15th, and 18th green thanks to her 15/18 green success rate.

“I was hitting well, finding the fairways, but I couldn’t really get it close enough to the pins,” said Liu. “The greens felt slower than I had expected but I was getting better towards the end. I hope the putter continues to improve the way it was, like it was on the back nine today.”

JSU Tour rookie, 19-year-old Wu Chia-Yen has earned three tour titles between June and August. The amazing string of performances currently puts her atop the official Step-Up Tour money leaderboard.

Wu hasn’t been particularly lucky here at the Mannou Hills Country Club, got eliminated in 2019, and had to withdraw from the 2022 event after the first round.

“Yeah, I was aware (of the previous results), so I was pretty nervous before today, and I don’t think my game was anywhere near my best, especially with the challenging conditions. Tight fairways, and it was very windy out there. The pins were quite tucked as well,” said Wu, who had patches of brilliance that earned her three birdies on 4, 12, and 13; however, she found just 9 fairways in the entire round and committed two bogeys. “I felt happy, though, seeing so many friends coming to play from Taiwan. I haven’t been back since May and I really miss them.” Wu needed 31 attempts on the greens in her first-round 71.

Also on 1-under is Wang Li-Ning (王莉甯), who shot four birdies and three bogeys. “The layout was not easy. The greens were slopey and fast and there lots of sand traps around them,” Wang said. “I think my iron game stood up to the challenge, while my putter did not.” Wang needed 32 putts. The highlight of her round was a 24-foot putt for birdie on the edge of the 7th green.

The event was co-sanctioned by the Step-Up Tour and the TLPGA Tour for the first time in 2017, and went through a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. It was resumed on the 2022 schedule where Kokona Sakurai gained her fifth victory in the season by an impressive seven shots, on a 54-hole total of 17-under 199.

There will be a cut after tomorrow’s second-round to reduce the field to the top-50 and ties. Second round action will start on Saturday at 8:00.