Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship will tee off Oct. 25 at Tashee Golf and Country Club in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City with 81 top female golfers from home and abroad battling it out for the US$2.2 million in prize money.
Co-organized by Taipei City-based Swinging Skirts Golf Foundation and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tournament running through Oct. 28 is widely considered the country’s most prestigious in the sport.
World No. 1 Park Sung-hyun and No. 3 Ryu So-yeon from South Korea, two-time winner Lydia Ko from New Zealand, as well as U.S. player Danielle Kang, who took the title at the latest LPGA tournament in Shanghai, are among the international line-up this year. They will be joined by established and emerging stars from Taiwan including Lu Hsin-yu, the country’s highest ranked player Teresa Lu, Tsai Pei-ying, former world No. 1 Yani Tseng and Wu Chia-yen.
Vice President Chen Chien-jen said the contest, which will be broadcast to audiences in 170 countries and territories, is a great opportunity for Taiwan to raise its profile and spotlight local talented players on the world stage. Chen made his comments while receiving the tournament’s top competitors Oct. 22 at the Office of the President.
Foundation Chairman Johnson Wang said the Taiwan championship was created to help local players gain experience competing against the world’s leading players and spur their professional careers. The organizers are hoping to boost audience figures for the final day’s play to 32,000 up from last year’s 28,000, he added.
The championship first took place as Swinging Skirts Taiwan LPGA Invitational in New Taipei City in 2011. The event returned to Taiwan in 2017 after three successful editions were held 2014-2016 at Lake Merced Golf Club in California.
A group of male and female golfers eager to promote the game in Taiwan established the foundation eight years ago. In a nod to the sport’s Scottish roots, they donned kilts and called themselves the swinging skirts. (CPY-E)
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