Lee Min (李旻) collected five birdies in the first-round of the season-opening Hitachi Air Conditioning Ladies Classic, building a one-shot lead at 3-under 69.

The venue of the 16-year-old tournament has been moved into Southern Taiwan for the first time at the Hsin Yi Golf Club. The competition layout is set at 6,297 yards long. Winner of the three-round event will take away a NT$2.5 million prize check from the NT$10 million prize pool.

Home-course girl Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) and the red-hot Lynn Chiu (邱齡緹), who actually knocked in an ace the other day in the official pro-am showdown, formed a tie for second on 2-under par along with Thai players Kamonwan Lueamsri and Nanthikarn Raksachat.

“My team and I have been working on new motions during the off-season, so today, I felt like I had to take some extra time to really settle in,” Lee said. “I made some bad tee shots early on, but I think my game was getting better as the day went on. I’m feeling great.”

Reigning Taiwan Mobile Ladies Open champion Juliana Hung carded five birdies and three bogeys in today’s round to keep herself up in equal-second. Hiccups on the back-nine saw Hung dropped shots after getting caught by the sand traps. “I let my intensity drop a bit after the turn, but luckily, I was able to make a pair of birdies on the final holes to kind of save my back nine,” said the Kaohsiung native. “My putting was not at its best, but I feel my woods and irons were doing a great job.”

Lynn Chiu got off to a fantastic start with a 7-foot birdie on the first hole. In fact, Chiu did not have a great day off the tees, but her short game stood strong to make up for the short-coming. Highlights of Chiu’s round included a 21-foot birdie on the 4th hole. She now took a share of the second place at 2-under 70.

Thailand’s Lueamsri also displayed sharp putting skills to sit only one shot off the lead. She needed just 28 putts. Also tying for second is Lueamsri’s compatriot Raksachat.

2022 winner Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎) left with a little regret that she did not capitalize on the par-5 opportunities too well, but her steady performance overall earned her a spot in equal sixth with just two strokes to catch up at 1-under 71.

The crowded eleven-way tie for sixth included local amateur talent Wu Chun-Wei (吳純葳), who used a couple of late birdies to find herself in the top-10 on the leaderboard.

A cut will be made after the second-round tomorrow.

Despite the absence of 2023 champion Kokona Sakurai, a star-studded list of international players promises an exciting week at the 2024 Hitachi Ladies Air Conditioning Classic.

This week’s field features 108 players from Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia, with 2023 TLPGA Tour Money Winner P.K. Kongkraphan from Thailand and the recent Taiwan Mobile Ladies Open champion Juliana Hung headlining the field.

Annual proceeds from the tournament will used to endow local charities. Over the past fifteen years, the donation amount has reached as high as NT$93 million.