2024/10/28
The 2024 ThreeBond Fu Hsing Challenge Tour, with a total prize of TWD 1 million, will begin tomorrow (October 29) at Kaohsiung Golf Country Club with two rounds over 36 holes. A field of 87 players, including 78 professionals and 9 amateurs from South Africa and Taiwan, will compete for the championship trophy and the top prize of TWD 150,000. Chan Ting-li seeks to defend his title.
To enhance the level of competition, the tournament includes five seeded players from the Taiwan Tour and one professional player from South Africa.
Additionally, this year’s Four-Time Champion on the ThreeBond Challenge Tour, Su Ching-hung, currently leading the tour’s prize money standings, will attempt to claim a fifth title, aiming to set a new record for most wins in the tour's history. Hsieh Min-hsuan, Hsiao Hung-yu, and Chen Chieh-shen will also be vying for their second titles of the season.
The first round will commence tomorrow, with players starting from both the first and tenth tees simultaneously. The first group will tee off at 7:00 a.m., and the last group at 9:05 a.m., with the event expected to conclude around 1 p.m. This tournament will follow a no-cut format.
Organized by Taiwan Fu Hsing Industrial Co., Ltd., with title sponsorship from ThreeBond, and hosted by TPGA in collaboration with Kaohsiung Golf Country Club, the event also included a VIP 18-hole Pro-Am event today. Thirteen professionals paired with 39 amateur players from the community. The Pro-Am event and dinner were attended by Taiwan Fu Hsing Industrial Co., Ltd. Chairman Lin Rui-chang, Vice President Lin Zi-xuan, and Hirokazu Taichi, the branch manager of ThreeBond Hong Kong Co., Ltd.'s Taiwan office.
Chairman Lin shared that this year marks the seventh consecutive year of sponsorship for the ThreeBond Challenge Tour by Taiwan Fu Hsing and the 10th year of ThreeBond’s title sponsorship. TPGA has continuously hosted tournaments to hone players' skills. Recent achievements by Taiwanese players, such as Yu Chun-an’s first PGA Tour win and Lee Chieh-po’s victory at the Asian Tour International Series, demonstrate the progress of Taiwan's male golfers. Taiwan Fu Hsing will continue to support local men's tournaments, providing athletes with more opportunities to excel.
Since 2018, Taiwan Fu Hsing Industrial Co., Ltd. has collaborated initially with Polaris Group and later with Mingan International Co., Ltd. and Ming Yang Technology to sponsor two Challenge Tour events. In 2019, Taiwan Fu Hsing independently took on title sponsorship, which has now continued for seven years.
Chairman Lin is also extending sponsorship for both TPGA Taiwan Tour and ThreeBond Challenge Tour Order of Merit titles this year, offering bonuses to the top three players in each ranking (TWD 500,000, 300,000, and 200,000, respectively), totaling TWD 2 million. This marks the sixth year Taiwan Fu Hsing has supported these bonuses.
This tournament is the 8th event on the ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour for 2024, serving as the last opportunity before the season-closing event in late November. Players are not only competing for the event title but also vying for the Order of Merit title and the top three positions in the tour’s prize money standings, which grants direct eligibility for next year’s Taiwan Tour.
The 2024 ThreeBond Fu Hsing Challenge Tour features a strong field, with all top 10 players from the Challenge Tour’s total prize standings participating, including Hsieh Min-hsuan (2nd), Hsiao Hung-yu (3rd), Chen Chieh-shen (4th), Chen Po-hao (5th), Tseng Tzu-hsuan (6th), Chang Chien Ko-yen (7th), Lee Chin-chou (8th), Chan Ting-li (9th), and Lin Wei-chieh (10th), promising intense competition.
Special prizes are available as follows:
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Hole-in-One Prizes:
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On holes 6, 9, 12, and 14, Taiwan Fu Hsing Chairman Lin Rui-chang offers TWD 100,000 per hole, unlimited for each occurrence (if no player scores a hole-in-one, the prize fund will be raffled at the awards ceremony, with ten TWD 10,000 prizes).
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Kaohsiung Golf Country Club also provides a TWD 20,000 reward, as well as pre-set sponsorship items and ten green fee vouchers.
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On the 9th hole (190 yards), an ORIS watch (valued at TWD 118,000, provided by Tung Hui Watch Co.) will be awarded to the first professional player to achieve a hole-in-one over the two rounds.
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Lowest Score per Round Prize: TWD 20,000 for the lowest score in each round, offered by Chairman Lin Rui-chang (for professionals only).
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Course Record Breaking Prize: Kaohsiung Golf Country Club Chairman Chen Jian-fu offers TWD 20,000 for breaking the course record of 65 strokes held by Lu Liang-huan.
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Player Raffle Prizes: Sponsored by Yuan Shan Home Appliances — including a water purification system and two multi-functional wireless floor cleaners.
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Amateur Champion Prizes: Sponsored by DUNLOP Japan Srixon Co. Ltd. with five SRIXON Z-STAR XV golf balls, and Shang Chong International Ltd., with an OMNIX golf bag.
The event is open to spectators at no insurance cost. However, spectators must fill out a waiver form at the starting station to receive an access badge. Spectators must stay on the cart paths; riding carts and shuttle services between holes are not available.
ThreeBond, a global company from Japan specializing in adhesive manufacturing, has been a long-term sponsor, supporting former TPGA President Chen Zhi-zhong for 40 years. This year marks the 10th consecutive year ThreeBond has served as the title sponsor of the TPGA Challenge Tour. The 2024 Challenge Tour season includes nine events in total.
