Choi Hye-jin, Lee Ye-won, and Bang Shin-shil, who all share the same national team background, will compete in the same group. The battleground is Wonju, Gangwon Province.
The KLPGA Tour’s 10th event of the 2023 season, the E1 Charity Open (total prize money of 900 million won, winner’s purse of 162 million won), will be held at Seongmunan CC (Par 72) in Wonju, Gangwon Province, for three days starting on May 26.
Choi Hye-jin, who has been playing on the LPGA Tour since last year, will be competing in her first KLPGA Tour event in Korea after moving to the United States. Choi competed in the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship at Oak Valley CC in Wonju, Gangwon Province last October. She tied for 18th at the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open, the opening event of the 2023 season on the KLPGA Tour, in Singapore last December.
Choi has 10 wins on the KLPGA Tour. Her last victory came at the SK Telecom-ADT Caps Championship in November 2020, and she hasn’t won a domestic or international event in two and a half years. This year, she has played eight LPGA Tour events and has yet to record a top-10 finish.
It will be interesting to see if Choi can quench her thirst for victory on her first outing in Korea. Choi will also play in her sponsor’s Lotte Open next week.
“Monster long hitter” Bang Shin-sil will also be competing in the tournament, playing in the same group as Choi and Lee. With an average driving distance of 264.6 yards, the ‘rookie’ has been making her mark on golf fans with her aggressive play.
She has competed in four KLPGA Tour events this season, playing in the championship group on two occasions. Last month, she finished fourth at the KLPGA Championship and third at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship.
Lee, last year’s KLPGA Tour Rookie of the 먹튀검증 Year and the first winner of her domestic season at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Women’s Open last month, will be looking to repeat. In eight events this season, Lee has three top-10 finishes, including one victory. Choi Hye-jin, Lee Ye-won and Bang Shin-shil will tee off in the first round at 12:30 p.m. on No. 1.
Jung will be making her first title defense after winning last year’s event in a five-player tiebreaker. The tournament has been held 10 times so far, and each year has seen fierce competition for the title, with no repeat winner.
“I know it’s really hard to defend my title,” said Jung. However, I am determined to play a good game at the E1 Charity Open so that people will remember me,” she said.
Also in the hunt for the title are Park Min-ji, who has six wins and the most money for the second year in a row, Kim Soo-ji, last year’s grand prize winner, and Park Ji-young, who leads the season in wins and money. Park is competing on the LPGA Tour as a junior invitee.