JLPGA: 2017 LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup

Ha Neul swing has really improved.
Earlier she had a problem moving ahead of the ball and hitting hook shots.
She stays in place in that video and turn through impact a lot better.

So Yeon had to deal with other crap, Ha Neul doesn't.

The English version of the tournament website is pretty good:

champ.lpga.or.jp/en/

One of the articles there lists three objectives for this event:

At the press conference held in Tokyo on 21th August, Commissioner Hiromi Kobayashi announced that this prestigious tournament with history would be more excellent. And then emphasized three specific points.

​ The first is for restoration assistance following the Great East Japan Earthquake. She said, “This is the first LPGA Championship to be held in Iwate. We have been organizing support activities. Please come and see the great play of women’s professional on the Golf Course.”

​ The second is to head for the most prestigious tournament of all the tournaments in Asia. She said, “Total purse has increased by ￥60million to reach ￥200million.  It has been the most expensive in LPGA history. Winner’s prize has also gone up by ￥10.8 million to ￥36 million.  Now here in Japan players with different nationalities are playing, I would like to send all over the world a specific message LPGA will lead the field in Asia. We are going to position the winner of this tournament as the top player not in Japan but in Asia.”

​ And the last is that LPGA will have popularity all over the world. She added, “We want to get more fans abroad, besides in Japan. This is the 50th anniversary of LPGA and then we want more people to be aware of our players’ greatness. So we open up the official website in English to offer much information.”

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A four-day grounds pass costs ￥8,640 (about $79 USD).

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Hae Rim Kim was eligible for this one, but will play in Korea instead.  Three DNS players so far:  Yeo Jin Kang, Weiwei Zhang, and Saki Inoue.

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I think I read somewhere that this is the longest par-71 set up the JLPGA has ever had.  At 450 yards (and slightly uphill), the par-4 3rd hole is tied for the 2nd longest par-4 on the JLPGA going back to 1990.  The rough is a mixture of five different grasses...who knows what the ball will do coming out of it.  The fairway on #1 (par-4, 400 yards) is 14 yards wide (first pic below).  On #9 (par-4, 410 yards) the fairway is 15 yards wide.  I'm guessing that for 85% of this field, it's gonna be a bloodbath.

They're in ski country with Mt. Maemori in the background at #1.

Only three unknowns were left on the golf course when Round One was suspended due to darkness.

RANK PLAYER SCORE HOLE TODAY 1R 2R 3R 4R TOTAL
1T Asuka Kashiwabara -4 *F -4 67 67
1T Yuki Ichinose -4 F -4 67 67
3T Ha-Neul Kim -3 *F -3 68 68
3T Eri Okayama -3 F -3 68 68
5T Haruka Morita -2 F -2 69 69
5T Haruka Kudo -2 *F -2 69 69
5T Karen Gondo -2 F -2 69 69
5T Ai Suzuki -2 *F -2 69 69
5T Phoebe Yao -2 F -2 69 69
10T Saiki Fujita -1 F -1 70 70
10T Ji-Hee Lee -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Yumiko Yoshida -1 F -1 70 70
10T Rie Tsuji -1 F -1 70 70
10T Kotone Hori -1 F -1 70 70
10T Chie Arimura -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Min-Young Lee -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Ritsuko Ryu -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Hee-Kyung Bae -1 F -1 70 70
10T Mayu Hattori -1 F -1 70 70
10T Teresa Lu -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Bo-Mee Lee -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Jiyai Shin -1 *F -1 70 70
10T Miki Sakai -1 F -1 70 70
10T Akane Iijima -1 F -1 70 70
10T Chae-Young Yoon -1 F -1 70 70
10T Ah-Reum Hwang -1 *F -1 70 70

Bo Mee Lee, Misuzu Narita(+2), and Simin Feng(+1)


They took Yuri Fudoh(+2) off the scoreboard and replaced her with Shin Ae Ahn(E)


Ha Neul Kim


Kotone Hori


Asako Fujimoto(+3)


SY Kang(+3)


Yuting Shi(+2) and Haruka Morita

Good round 1 for the Sisters. Ha Neul, Bo Mee, Chae Young, Jiyai among those near the top. Go Sisters!!!