2023/7/4
The sixth station of the 2023 ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour, the Yeangder Challenge Tour, commenced its first round today (4th) at the Ta Kang Shan Golf Course in Kaohsiung. Lee Shih Hung took the lead with a score of 67, which was five strokes under par. HSIEH MIN HSUAN, LIN CHENG-YU, and KU PO YUN tied for second place with scores of 68, four strokes under par. Four players, FANG CHUAN WEI, SHIH CHUN YU, HUANG YI TSENG, and WANG SHIH JUI, were tied for fifth place with scores of 69, just two strokes behind. The final round will take place tomorrow, where they will compete for the championship prize of 150,000 New Taiwan Dollars and the championship trophy.
Seven players, Chen Yi-Chen, LU SUN YI, HUNG CHAO HSIN, HUANG SHAO HSUN, Yeh Wei Tze, Tseng Fu Tung, and Tsai Chi Huang, all scored 70, three strokes behind the leader, and are currently tied for ninth place. They will also have a chance to contend for the title in tomorrow's final, promising an intense competition.
Amateur player Cai Jing Yang scored 74, the best performance among the nine amateur players, and is currently tied for 38th place on the professional leaderboard.
The Ta Kang Shan Golf Course in the Tianliao District of Kaohsiung experienced hot weather today, with temperatures reaching 34-35 degrees Celsius at noon. However, the fairways and greens were in excellent condition. The total length of the course for this tournament is 7,191 yards.
Tomorrow, in the final round of the tournament, the players will continue to start from both the first and tenth holes. The first group will tee off at 6:30 AM, while the last group will start at 9:05 AM. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place immediately after the tournament ends, around 2:00 PM.
Lee Shih Hung had a solid performance today with his iron shots and putting. He scored an eagle, four birdies, and one bogey. On the 505-yard par-5 17th hole, his second shot landed on the green, 16 feet away from the hole, and he sank the putt for an eagle. He also had birdies on the 5th and 15th holes, both with short putts, a 9-foot birdie putt on the 4th hole, and a close 5-foot birdie putt on the 6th hole. However, he dropped a stroke on the par-3 13th hole with a bogey after missing his tee shot and chip shot. Overall, he hit 12 greens in regulation, made 27 putts, and only missed the fairway on three occasions with his tee shots. He mentioned that he missed a couple of short putts for birdies on the first and second holes, but he managed to salvage a par on the par-4 12th hole after hitting his second shot past the green and making an 11-foot putt on his chip shot.
Lee also commented on the hot weather today, mentioning that he felt a bit dazed and distracted during the back nine. Starting from the 10th hole, he struggled to hit the greens in regulation for four consecutive holes. Fortunately, except for the 13th hole, he was able to save par on the other holes.
LIN CHENG-YU scored an eagle, four birdies, and two bogeys today. He also hit the green in two shots on the 17th hole and made a 15-foot eagle putt. Additionally, he had birdies on the 1st and 11th holes with 5-foot putts and a birdie on the 4th hole with an 18-foot long putt. His two bogeys came from missed putts after chipping and not getting close enough to the hole after a sand shot.
He mentioned that his putting was good today with 28 putts, and his iron shots were consistent. He particularly highlighted his success on the 13th hole, a par-3, where he hit the green in regulation. He managed to hit 12 greens in total and had a decent performance with his tee shots.
LIN CHENG-YU earned his first professional victory in the Model Father Challenge Tour held at a Kaohsiung golf course at the end of May this year. He believes that winning that championship has given him more confidence in his swing in subsequent competitions. He stated, "I also feel more composed than before."
KU PO YUN and HSIEH MIN HSUAN both scored five birdies and one bogey. KU PO YUN's five birdies, aside from the 15-foot putt for birdie on the 17th hole, were all within the range of 9-12 feet. He mentioned that he hit 14 greens in regulation and made 28 putts. He also commented on the good condition of the greens at the Ta Kang Shan Golf Course, which suited his preferred speed.
At 28 years old, KU PO YUN began his professional career in 2015 at the Linkou Golf Club. After only a few years, he experienced hip joint pain and had to take a three-year break from golf. He only started competing again last year. He pointed out that recently, he has been practicing diligently on his short cut and putting, which has shown positive results.
HSIEH MIN HSUAN's five birdies included a 45-foot putt for birdie on the 10th hole, which was the longest putt he made. The other three birdies were all short putts. He mentioned that his iron shots were very accurate today, and he was satisfied with his control over distance and power. He successfully hit 13 greens in regulation and had a good putting performance with 27 putts.
He pointed out that at the beginning of last year, he made changes to his swing posture, including grip and takeaway, in order to pursue higher and longer goals. Since he had to completely modify his swing posture, he did not deliberately focus on achieving the same results and rankings as in the previous Taiwan Tour season. Over the course of more than a year, he has seen improvements, including an increase of 10-15 yards in driving distance and more solid and consistent iron shots. He hopes to achieve better results this year, including in the JGTO (Japan Golf Tour Organization) qualification.
SHIH CHUN YU and FANG CHUAN WEI, both scoring 69, also had accurate putting performances with 27 putts each. SHIH CHUN YU recorded an eagle, three birdies, and two bogeys. His iron shots were not precise enough in the front nine, resulting in a score of 37 with one birdie and two bogeys. However, his iron play improved in the back nine, with almost every shot hitting the green in regulation and allowing him to create birdie opportunities by getting close to the hole. He also made an eagle on the par-5 17th hole with a 21-foot putt. Although he made mistakes with his approach shots on three holes in the back nine, he managed to save par on all of them.
FANG CHUAN WEI had a good performance with his iron shots today. Among his five birdies and two bogeys, all birdie putts were within 3 feet except for a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. He successfully hit 11 greens in regulation.
In addition, HUANG YI TSENG and WANG SHIH JUI scored six birdies and three bogeys, and five birdies and two bogeys, respectively. They are currently two strokes behind the leader, Lee Shih Hung, and both have a chance to win the championship tomorrow.
Chang Chih Chia, who transitioned from a professional baseball player to professional golf, achieved his personal best in a professional tournament today with a score of 71. He recorded one eagle, three birdies, and four bogeys, currently tied for 16th place.
This ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour is the second sponsored event by the Yeangder Group this year. Ta Kang Shan Golf Course has hosted the Challenge Tour in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022, with the event canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year marks the sixth collaboration between the tournament and the golf course.
The competition consists of two rounds, totaling 36 holes, with a total prize money of 1 million New Taiwan Dollars. The champion will receive 150,000 NTD, the runner-up 75,000 NTD, and the third-place finisher 50,000 NTD. A total of 96 players, including 87 professional players and 9 amateur players, are participating. There is no elimination after the completion of the first round, and the top 40 players based on the final scores after the second round will receive prize money.
Peng Yi Golf sponsors this event with 100 bottles of cold-brewed tea, providing refreshment and encouragement to the participating players in the hot summer, while wishing them success in achieving outstanding results.
Mr. Lin Rui Zhang, Chairman of Taiwan Fu Hsing Industrial Co., Ltd., has increased his support this year by offering prize money of NT$500,000, NT$300,000, and NT$200,000 to the top three players in the ThreeBond Challenge Tour annual rankings.
Special Awards during the tournament include:
Hole-in-One Award:
Ta Kang Shan Golf Course offers a prize of NT$30,000, along with sponsored merchandise set up at holes 3, 8, 13, and 16.
Hole 16:
TUNG HUI WATCH provides a luxury ORIS watch valued at NT$118,000. It will be awarded to the first player to score a hole-in-one at this hole during the two rounds of the tournament (limited to professional players).
Course Record Breaker (Lowest Score of 64 by LIN WEN TANG):
Ta Kang Shan Golf Course offers a prize of NT$20,000.
Amateur Champion Prize:
SRIXON TRI-STAR 5 golf balls sponsored by DUNLOP KOKUSAI and an OMNIX golf bag provided by SHANG CHONG INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
During the competition, spectators are not allowed on the course. However, viewing areas are open in the vicinity of holes 1 and 10 tees, as well as near holes 9 and 18 greens. Children under 6 years of age and pets are not permitted on the course.
ThreeBond is an international manufacturer specializing in adhesives, originally from Japan. They have been a long-term sponsor of the TPGA, with former TPGA Chairman Chen Tze Chung as their sponsor for 40 years. This is the 9th year that they have become the title sponsor of the TPGA Challenge Tour. The tournament is organized by ThreeBond and TPGA, with sponsorship from Yeangder Group and co-organization by Ta Kang Shan Golf Course.
Media Contacts:
Wu Bin Yang - 0936-104-481
Sunny Liu - 0936-198-346
Photo credits: TPGA provided by Lin Sheng Kai Photography.
