CTBC ambassador, 19-year-old Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) led the field along with Tseng Tsai-Ching (曾彩晴) and Japanese Mio Kotaki after the first round of the 2023 CTBC Ladies Open closed on Thursday.

The JPY30,000,000 event is a co-sanctioned tournament by the TLPGA Tour and Japan LPGA’s Step-Up Tour (JSU Tour).

2021 TLPGA Tour Money Winner Wu Chia-Yen, who just recently started her career on the JSU Tour, was on 4-under alongside Kotaki through 17, but dropped behind Kotaki after a penalty and a bogey on the 18th hole.

Kotaki, unfortunately, had just a swift stay atop the leaderboard when she also bogeyed her final hole on the 9th after a three-putt.

With Tseng Tsai-Ching draining a 12-foot birdie putt to close the round at 69, three players shared the lead which is just one shot in front of a group of five players at 70, including Babe Liu (劉嬿), Chang Ya-Chun (張雅淳), Yuna Arakawa, Mana Shinozaki, and Fumie Tsune.

“I haven’t quite found my rhythm yet on the Step-Up Tour. It’s been a while since I last broke 70,” Wu smiled. “I felt literally at home here. Much more comfortable and I think I played a great round.” The backdrop this week is the Orient Golf & Country Club, playing at 6,452 yards for the week.

Wu was flawless through the first 17 holes, needing just 27 putts by then, which is extra impressive considering the tougher pin position. But the tee shot caught by a tree on the 18th hole kind of spoiled the party. “It was trapped in the tree. We could actually see the ball but it was unplayable,” Chang said.

Japan’s Kotaki started the day on the back nine and displayed an arsenal of attacking creativities. She made five birdies plus one eagle on the 15th hole, but also committed four bogeys. She joined Wu with a brilliant 12-footer on her 17th hole and stayed glued to Wu after both players drop shots on their final holes.

“The grass feels different than what we normally play on (in Japan). So, it was a real challenge and I made a couple of three-putts,” Kotaki said. “But I’m happy to be able to somewhat finish the day at the top. There are still two rounds to go. I’m trying to keep up the pace and hopefully I can also earn three shots each day in the two days. That is my goal for the week.”

Wu and Kotaki will play in the last group on Day 2 with Tseng, who used a whopping six birdies, including one from 12 feet on 18th green, to squeeze into the lead in the last minute. The 2022 SAMPO Ladies Open champion is looking for her second victory this week.

Babe Liu and Chang Ya-Chun, both TLPGA Tour titlists, shot identical 70s with three birdies and one bogey. “Usually, I start slow,” said Liu. “So I’m actually proud of how I got myself into it pretty quickly. I didn’t really get close enough to the flags. Hopefully the iron game would improve.” Also at 70 was a trio of JSU Tour members, Yuna Arakawa, Mana Shinozaki, and Fumie Tsune.

Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) and Jessica Peng (彭婕) sit another shot adrift at 1-under 71. Defending her 2020 title, An Ho-Yu (安禾佑) finished the first round in a tie for 19th with amateur player Annika Chen (陳襄) and ten other players.

Second round play begins Friday at 7:30 a.m.. A cut will be made to the top 50 and ties when Friday ends.

The CTBC Ladies Open is back on the TLPGA Tour after a two-season hiatus (replaced by the CTBC Invitational in 2021 and 2022), and is now presented in collaboration with the Japan LPGA, making it a JPY30,000,000 Step-Up Tour oversea leg—a historic first for the JLPGA’s secondary tour to travel outside of Japan. The best player standing after three rounds of battles this Saturday will take away JPY5,400,000.