Banzihua Club home player, 15-year-old amateur Hsu P-C (許柏丞) impressed in the first-round on the first leg of TPGA’s 2023 ThreeBond Challenger Tour. He needed just 25 putts to card a 7-under 65 on Wednesday and steal the lead at the ThreeBond “Banzihua Wing-On Golf Club” Challenger.

At 6-foot-1 tall, the teenager took advantage of the preferred lies on an extremely dry layout to break the course record. “I was playing great. Not the best day from the tees. Not by a lot, but I actually missed many fairways. But my second shots were really good. Made about 12 greens. And I basically took command of all the mid-range putts except one 9-footer on the fourth hole.” Hsu took advantage on all four par-5s, making seven birdies in total, without any blemish in between.

American Ban Shotaro, who is of Japanese and Taiwanese descent, made one eagle on the par-5 ninth hole, and four birdies to produce another bogey-free round of 66. He trailed Hsu by just one shot. “To be honest, that was not the performance I was looking for,” said Shotaro, who found 8 fairways and 12 greens, where he used 26 putts. “I’ll need to make a couple of adjustments and I hope the stats will improve tomorrow in the final round.”

Shotaro grew up training for competitive swimming and only until he was eighth grade did he start to develop his golf future. He obtained his TPGA Tour card freshly this February.

Peng H-C (彭弘瑾) was one of the front-runners in the early waves. He eagled his first hole on the par-4 10th with a beautiful 58-degree wedge effort from 55 yards, and went on to covert birdie putts on 12th, 13th, 16th, and after the turn on 3rd and 9th. There are, unfortunately, one double-bogey and one bogey, on his score card.

“Yeah, I had some great saves, took the chances when they came. Except for that OB shot on the 2nd, I think I had a great day at the office,” Peng said. He needed 27 putts.

Lin C-Y (林澄洋) looked to lower topspin shots to let the ball carry and roll further in today’s firm and dry conditions, which showed good effects and helped him earned seven birdies. The effort was offset by a bogey and a double. He hit 14 greens and needed just 26 attempts on the greens to put him in a tie for fourth on 4-under 68 with big-hitting Lee C-H (李家豪) and Hung C-H (洪昭鑫), who are both in their rookie TPGA Tour season.

A hole-in-one celebration saw Luo K-C (羅凱中) took out his 6-iron and made his first career ace on the 212 yards long, par-3 second hole.

TPGA’s 2023 ThreeBond Challenge Tour kickstarts this week at the Banzihua in Tainan, Taiwan, for the fifth consecutive season. There will be a total of nine ThreeBond Challengers on the 2023 calendar, which are played in a 2-day, 36-hole format and serve as the secondary pro circuit to the main TPGA Tour.

There are 88 TPGA pros and 8 amateur players in action today, who are vying for a NT$150,000 top prize on Thursday in the NT$1 million event.

ThreeBond is a manufacturer and one of the international leaders in industrial adhesives, sealants and coatings. The Japan-based company has been collaborating  with Taiwanese golf legend and former TPGA chairman T-C Chen (陳志忠), who was the very first player from Taiwan to ever win on the PGA Tour at the 1987 Los Angeles Open, for more than 40 years.