Fang C-W (方傳崴) shot seven birdies and just one bogey to top the first-round leaderboard today at the ThreeBond “Both-Well Cheng-Guan-Yuan Driving Range” Challenger.
Fan C-Y (范揚嘉) was one shot back of lead at 67, while a three-way tie including Chan T-L (詹頂立), Lin Y-Y (林義淵), and Chen P-H (陳伯豪) followed closely with another shot adrift at 68. Ban Shotaro, winner in the first leg of the ThreeBond Challenge Tour this past week, sit in a tie for fifth with four players.
This week at the Hsin Yi Golf Club is the second leg of the TPGA’s 2023 ThreeBond Challenge Tour. 88 TPGA pros, with 8 amateur players alongside, are vying for a NT$150,000 top prize in the NT$1 million event. There will be a total of nine ThreeBond Challengers on the 2023 calendar. The challengers are played in a 2-day, 36-hole format.
Fang, who is in his fourth year on the TPGA Tour, credited his putter for spurring on an equal career-best 66. “My team and I have been working on some details in my swing. It has made a difference today,” said the Old-Tamsui-Club-based athlete. He hit 14 greens today and needed only 27 putts, including a successful 50-footer on the eighth hole.
Fang is looking for his first victory at professional level. His best result so far was one runner-up showing on the 2022 ThreeBond Challenger Tour.
Rookie pro Fan C-Y (范揚嘉) also bested his career low-round with a bogey-free 67 today at the Hsin Yi Club. The Hsin-Feng-Club-based grad-school student used 29 attempts on the greens, which converted five birdie chances.
Chan T-L (詹頂立), with another shot back of lead at 68, also saw zero blemish on his score card. “I saved a lot of pars with my putter. I’m feeling great. It’s been a rare achievement for me to not make any bogey,” Chan said, whose highlight was a birdie on the 14th hole from 21 feet.
Starting on the back nine, this year’s Technology Cup champion Lin Y-Y (林義淵) bounced back from two double-bogeys and 4-over in just four holes, to picking up three shots in two holes on the 14th and 15th. The eagle on the par-5 15th came from a spectacular chipping attempt from 15 yards away. And once he found the groove, the home course golfer never looked back. He went on to birdie no.17 and 18 consecutively, and grabbed another three birdies after the turn. He totaled just 27 putts and wrapped up the day on 4-under 68.
Chen P-H (陳伯豪) recorded an eagle as well on the 15th hole thanks to a risky second-shot approach and a 24-foot effort on the green. He was among the three-way tie on 4-under with Chan and Lin after making three birdies and one bogey the rest of the day.
American Ban Shotaro, who snatched the victory in ThreeBond Challenger Tour’s season opener last week at the Banzihua, made four birdies and one bogey to sit in a tie for fifth at 3-under. “I’m not very used to the green speed here today. A couple of putts went too short,” said Shotaro. He needed 32 putts.
Cheng T-L (鄭岱霖) scored six birdies, offset by three birdies, to put himself in the top page of the leaderboard with a career-best 69. Lee S-J’s (李尚融) 69 was composed of four birdies and one bogey. His best shots today included a chip-in on the 2nd and a 36-foot birdie on the 6th.
This is the fifth year in a row the Both-Well Group has become the event sponsor, which now holds the ownership of the Cheng-Guan-Yuan Golf Driving Range in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Final-round action begins at 6:30 tomorrow morning from the first and tenth tees. The final group will tee off at 8:25. Only the top-40 finishers and ties will take a share of the prize money. There will be hole-in-one prizes up for grab on Hole 3, 6, 13, and 17.
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. The TPGA ThreeBond Challenge Tour is now in its ninth season, serving as the secondary pro circuit to the main TPGA Tour.
