Beijing, China: The Beijing Ladies Challenge got off to a wet and windy start as amateur Zeng Yu and veteran Yan Panpan carded three-under-par 69s to share the opening-day honours.
With rain starting to fall in the afternoon session at Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club, Thailand’s Wad Phaewchimplee was one stroke off the lead, tied on 70 with China’s Meng Lin and Ji Yuai at the RMB500,000 tournament.
China LPGA Tour Order of Merit leader Sui Xiang shot a one-under 71 to sit equal sixth with compatriots Cai Danlin, Shi Yuli, Han Yucin and Zeng Liqi and Thais Wannasiri Sirisampant, Parinda Phokan and Pakin Kawinpakorn.
Taking advantage of the calm and dry conditions during her early morning round, Zeng Yu, a 16-year-old from Beijing who is 1,183rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), carded a round featuring five birdies and two bogeys.
“My short game was good. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but I improved a lot,” said the teenager who was low amateur at last year’s tournament when she finished eighth.
Another amateur who’s well placed after round one is An Tong, who carded an even-par 72.
An has risen to 92nd in the WAGR on the back of some impressive results this year including a seventh-place finish at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific. She was also runner-up at last month’s Tianjin Ladies Challenge on the China LPGA Tour.
For Yan, a share of the opening-round lead came as a total surprise as the Beijing-based teaching pro was initially reluctant to play in the tournament.
“Because I spend a lot of time teaching now, I don’t have time to sharpen my own game. But the people around me persuaded me to join the field. I expected to shoot a 74 or 75 going into this event. The best finish for me is to make the cut after 36 holes,” said Yan who won the pro-am on Tuesday and has one CLPGA Tour win to her credit.
“Teaching might be a good thing to me. On Monday, I still had a lesson. I found out a wrong set-up from one of my students. I told myself that I had the same mistake. I worked on it before the round. I drained some long putts from more than 30 feet, which is a good momentum for me. But I still have a low expectation.”
Notable first-round scores included former US LPGA Tour regular Patcharajutar Khongkraphan on 74, while defending champion Sun Jiaze played through a knee injury to post a 79.
