Last year’s Hanwha Classic gained notoriety as the “Devil’s Course.
The tournament was held at Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province (Par 72-6777 yards), which was plagued by tough rough that was up to 100 millimeters thick and 15-meter “ant waist” fairways. No player shot a four-round total under par. Hong Ji-won (23) topped the leaderboard with a final total of 1-over par.
The KLPGA (Korean Ladies Professional Golf) Tour’s Hanwha Classic 2023 (total prize fund of 1.7 billion won, winner’s purse of 360 million won) will be held at the same venue on April 24. The course setting is different from last year.
The ankle-length rough was more than half as long as last year. It’s not easy, but it’s better than last year, when it was best to get the ball out of the rough and into the fairway and lose a stroke. This year, even if you make a mistake in the rough, you have more room to hit the green. The fairways are also more than 10 meters wider than last year. This is a far cry from last year’s tournament, which saw a lot of over-par scores.
The Hanwha Classic is the predecessor of the Seoul Women’s Open, the KLPGA’s first international tournament in 1990. With a total prize fund of 1.7 billion won, up 300 million won from last year, it is the largest tournament of the season. As it is the biggest tournament of the season, the target points and prize money rankings are expected to fluctuate depending on the results.메이저사이트
The strongest players in Korea and abroad have thrown their hats in the ring early. Defending champion Hong Ji-won, who is attempting to repeat her three consecutive wins from 1995-1997, will be among the top players in the field, along with Park Ji-young (27) and Im Jin-hee (25), who are tied for the top spot on the money list, Lee Ye-won (20), who has 18 career wins on the KLPGA Tour, Park Min-ji (25), who topped the Haiwon Resort Women’s Open last week, and Han Jin-sun (26). Two-time LPGA winner and one-time world No. 1 Ataya Thittitjerin (20-Thailand) will also be in the mix. Kim Ah-rim (28), Ji-hee Ji (37), In-Kyung Kim (35) and Ji-eun Shin (31), who play on the LPGA Tour, and Lee Min-young (31), who plays on the JLPGA (Japan Ladies Professional Golf) Tour, are also on the roster.