China News Service, Xiamen, October 14th. The Xiamen International Golf Open kicked off at the Oriental (Xiamen) Golf and Country Club on the 13th. The 18-year-old Beijing girl Shi Yuting performed perfectly in the first round, scoring 65, 7 under par, and took the lead by 2 strokes.
Ploychompoo Wirairungrueng, a 21-year-old girl from Bangkok, Thailand, made four consecutive birdies in the last four holes and shot 67. She was tied for second place with Elina Nummenpaa, a Finnish player who came to China for the first time.
Guangzhou girl Li Jiayun caught 4 birdies before turning around and shot 68, tied for fourth place with another Thai player Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras. Another Guangdong player Chen Liqing also entered the top ten after shooting 69, tied for sixth place with Chinese Taipei's Guo Aizhen and Cheng Sijia.
The temperature in Xiamen that day was suitable, there was no wind, and the water on the fairways from the previous two days slowly receded. Shi Yuting seized the opportunity. Starting from the back nine holes, she hit the ball within 15 feet continuously. Unfortunately, she only seized 2 of the opportunities.
"Missing these putts allowed me to adjust in time, and my putting performance on the back nine was obviously better," Shi Yuting said. "In general, the rate of my birdie putts going into the hole is about half, which is about the same as usual practice. This is what makes me happy."
After the transition, Shi Yuting made a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole. One hole later, she made a 21-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, but this was her longest putt of the day. On the par-3 seventh hole, she sent the ball 10 feet to the left of the pin for a birdie. On the last hole of the day, the par-5 ninth hole, she sent the ball 3 feet for a birdie, only one stroke away from her personal lowest score of 64.
"Due to the typhoon, the trees on the course have become sparse, which makes it easier to tee off," said Shi Yuting, who has been playing here since she was 11 years old. "But the venue is relatively humid and the ball does not roll very much, so the distance of the course seems a bit further. There are three days left in the game, and anything can happen. I need to maintain my current state. Today I played very steadily with all my clubs."
Puaichamp achieved her first victory on the Women's China Tour at the Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge in June this year and is currently ranked ninth on the women's China Tour money list. She made a 30-foot putt on the fourth hole today and made her first birdie of the day. However, her most exciting performance was the last four holes. She made consecutive birdies on those four holes. "I wasn't particularly excited or excited at the time. I just tried to play my game and didn't think about the results," Pouichamp said.
Irina Numenpa started in the afternoon and made 6 birdies and 1 bogey. It should be said that it was not easy for her to compete in China for the first time. Before the competition, she went to the Chinese Embassy three times. The reason why she has not made the trip before is mainly because her ranking is relatively low and she always enters the lineup relatively late.
The Xiamen International Open is jointly certified by the Women's China Tour and the Women's European Tour, with a total prize money of US$300,000. A total of 126 players from 29 countries or regions participated. (over)
