XIAMEN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Sitanart Singhanart held steady in wet conditions in Fujian province on Thursday as the veteran opened with a four-under par 68 for a one-stroke lead at The Zhu Chun Straits Cup Women's Open.
As heavy rain dampened the first-round play throughout the day at Orient (Xiamen) Golf and Country Club, fellow Thai Sherman Santiwiwattthanaphong was equal second with Hu Jing, Wang Zixuan and Zhou Shiyuan, the top-ranked Chinese amateur, on 69.
Pang Runzhi, Pasinee Thongthaengyai and Chang Chih-yen of Chinese Taipei were two shots off the pace on 70 at the RMB500,000 "friendship" event where the CLPG Tour regulars compete against their TLPGA Tour counterparts in 54 holes of stroke play.
Sitanart, who will turn 30 Friday, gave herself an early birthday present with a round featuring five birdies and a bogey after starting in the early morning in the hunt for her first win as a pro.
"Today my game is very good, my putter really performed," said the Bangkok native who is playing in her first year in China after earning her playing card through the qualifying tournament in January. "I was very positive thinking about the weather and just followed my plan. I'm very happy today; no three-putts. Many birdies. My iron play is my strength. My chipping was very good."
Wang, who leads the CLPG Tour points ranking this season, started from the Orient Xiamen back nine and carded five birdies and two bogeys in what she called "challenging" conditions.
"The heavy rain was especially tough because I wear glasses, and the raindrops kept blurring my vision. You have to juggle holding an umbrella, wearing gloves, and everything else, which speeds up your rhythm. Rainy rounds are always troublesome," said the 17-year-old Beijinger, winner of the GolfJoy Women's Open in March.
"Today I focused on hitting my driver with a higher trajectory. In recent tournaments, my ball flight has been lower, relying more on rollout for distance. But with the course so wet today there wasn't much rollout, so I adjusted to maximize carry distance."
Hong Kong veteran Hu was another who started from the back nine. After carding seven straight pars to start, the 24-year-old got her game going at the 17th hole, her eighth hole, when she carded the first of three straight birdies. After dropping her only stroke of the day at the 488-yard, par-five second hole, her 11th hole, she quickly rebounded for a birdie at the next before playing par golf back to the clubhouse.
"Normally we wouldn't play in such heavy rain, so I don't have much experience dealing with this kind of weather. When it rains, everything feels chaotic, but in a way that might help. You're so busy handling everything that you don't have time to feel nervous, so I actually played pretty smoothly," said the Guangdong-born Hu.
"Today, my putting was excellent. I gave myself a lot of putts inside 10 feet and only missed one, all thanks to my familiarity with the greens. Shooting a 69 in these conditions is definitely a fantastic result."
Sherman, winner of the CLPG Tour Order of Merit in 2023, played a near-flawless round in the rain, going bogey-free through 17 holes to get to four-under par. She then made bogey at the 390-yard last.
"I didn't feel lucky today. I couldn't hit my driver on the fairway, like I hit it everywhere. I was just lucky that my putter was really nice today," said the 28-year-old Bueng Kan native.
"Tomorrow, if I could hit my driver on the fairway that would be really nice."
Zhou, 43rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, put herself in the mix for her third CLPG Tour title with a round that started strong with four birdies on the front nine. The 15-year-old then wavered down the stretch going bogey-birdie-bogey to finish.
"This course is already quite long, and with the rain softening the fairways the playing distance felt even longer today. That took away some of my confidence to attack the greens aggressively. It really got into my head," said the Chongqing teenager, a two-time winner on the CLPG Tour last year. "No matter if it rains or shines tomorrow, my strategy won't change. I'll stick to the game plan and execute it precisely."
Wu Chun-wei, winner of last year's Asia-Pacific Women's Amateur Championship, got off to a rough start in her CLPG Tour debut, carding a four-over 76 in a round featuring three birdies and seven bogeys. ■
