KLPGA: 2022 Hanwha Classic (Major)

Jade Palace GC is on the edge of Gangwon-do and there's a subway/train station not too far from the course.

Jade Palace hosted this event in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021.

Winning totals at Jade Palace GC.
Oh Ji Hyun 13-under         (2 shot victory, T-10 5-under)
Lee Jeong Eun6 13-under  (4 shot victory, T-10 4-under)
Park Chae Yoon 5-under    (1 shot victory, T-10 1-under)
Lee Da Yeon 19-under       (7 shot victory, T-10 7-under)

I don't know what the weather was like last year. I think it was rather cloudy all four rounds.
Anyway, they recorded six eagles over four days, three on the short par 4 tenth. 

Hyun-Kyeong has NOT done well at Jade Palace GC, +1 over 8 rounds. 

Google Translate "Hanwha Classic" KLPGA press release. Worth reading.

The twentieth tournament of the 2022 KLPGA Tour and the first major tournament in the second half of the year, the 'Hanwha Classic 2022' (total prize money of 1.4 billion won, prize money of 225 million won) will be held for four days from August 25 (Thursday) at Jade Palace Golf, located in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do. It is played at the club (par 72/6,777 yards).

The organizer, Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS, a total green energy solution company (hereafter, Hanwha Q CELLS), is a leading company in the global renewable energy industry. As a solution company, it not only hosts competitions, but also operates the Hanwha Q CELLS Golf Team to support talented players at home and abroad.

The ‘Hanwha Classic’, the predecessor of the ‘Seoul Women’s Open’, the first international tournament of the KLPGA in 1990, is held with a total prize money of 1.4 billion won, the largest of the KLPGA Tour major tournaments. This tournament, which has been promoted to a major tournament since 2017, has established itself as the best KLPGA tournament with tradition and authority.

Matching the size of the tournament, the faces of the participating players are also gorgeous. Not only top players in the KLPGA regular tour record categories, but also players who mainly perform overseas tours such as Ji Eun-hee (36, Hanwha Q CELLS), Kim In-Kyung (34, Hanwha Q CELLS), and Lee Min-Young 2 (30, Hanwha Q CELLS) have great performances in Korea. Gathered together for a shot match.

▶To whom is the glory of the major queen?
Jin-sun Han (25, Kakao VX), who achieved the first victory in his life of emotion after 131 competitions last week, is not very strong. Jinsun Han said, “I like the feel of the shot and putt, so I will play while maintaining the current state. All the players are in a state of increased shot feeling overall. I want to let go of the pressure and enjoy the difficult course and play.”

Hae-ran Ha (21, Daol Financial Group), who participated in 17 competitions this season and placed 12th in the top ten, showed a stable appearance in each competition is also noteworthy. Hae Ran said, “I am in good overall condition these days. The shot is good and the putt is not bad. The fact that I have become more calm than before and my judgment in difficult situations has improved seems to have been the driving force for my steady performance.”

Yoo Hae-ran said, “The Jade Palace Golf Club is a difficult place. Last year, I played with the thought of not going into the rough, but the ball that goes to the rough will go anyway. This year, the distance has also increased, so even if we go rough, we will play boldly with the idea of ​​shooting from a close distance. The goal is to be top ten.”

Lee Min-young 2, who recently won the JLPGA Tour ‘Hokkaido Meiji Cup’ and achieved six career victories, also shines in the domestic competition after a long time. Lee Min-young 2, who has a record of four wins on the KLPGA Tour, said, “I gained confidence by winning recently. It is a domestic competition that I have participated in for a long time and it is also a sponsored competition, so I have a strong desire to do well. I am very nervous,” he said, expressing his feelings about participating in the domestic competition. Regarding the course, “I played a round on the course of this competition a few days ago, and it was really difficult. The tee shot is the most important because the rough is long and the fairway is narrow. I will keep the fairway unconditionally,” he said.

In addition, Park Min-ji (24, NH Investment & Securities) and Jo A-yeon (22, Dongbu Construction), who have won the most seasons, have three wins in the season, and Park Ji-young (26, Korea Land Trust) and Ji Han-sol (26, Dongbu), who show a steady appearance in each tournament. Construction) and Jung Yun-ji (22, NH Investment & Securities) are also paying attention to whether they can achieve multiple wins.

Kim Su-ji (26, Dongbu Construction), Park Hyeon-kyung (22, Korea Land Trust), and Lee So-mi (23, SBI Savings Bank), who improved their condition for the second half of the year, and Lee Ye-won (19, KB Financial Group), the only rookie player to enter the top ten. Group) and Hanwha Q CELLS players, Seong Yu-jin (22) and Lee Jung-min (30), Kim Ji-young 2 (26), and Huh Da-bin (24) are paying attention.

It is also interesting to see if the winner of this tournament will be born after 25 years. Se-ri Pak is the only one to have won the tournament for three consecutive years since 1995. Da-yeon Lee (25, Mediheal), the defending champion, did not participate in this competition due to an elbow injury.

▶ What is the point of watching Jade Palace Golf Club?
It is also fun to watch the players play wonderfully at the Jade Palace Golf Club, which boasts a luxury course such as being selected as one of the top 10 courses in Korea.

The rough length of this competition is 75mm to 80mm, which is 10mm longer than the 65mm of 'Ever Collagen Queen's Crown 2022', which had the longest rough this season. Participants said, “The course is really difficult because the rough is long. If you don't hit the tee well on the fairway, it's hard to get a birdie."

Although the 10th hole of this tournament is a par 4, it is characterized by its short length of 330 yards so that one-on attempts can be made. In the recent two tournaments (2019 and 2021), 108 one-on attempts were made. The odds of a buddy on the 10th hole of the player who tried the one-on was 35.2%, which was significantly higher than that of the player who did not try, 19.7%. The eagle probability was also 2.8%, which is much higher than the eagle probability of 0.2% of the player who tried two-on. Watching the cool play of players aiming for one-on on the 10th hole of this tournament is also expected to be a good point of observation.

▶Will the records be broken?
It is worth watching to see if the 'minimum hit record in the 4th round' of the main tournament, which Da-yeon Lee set last year with a final total of 19-under-par 269, and the course record (65 shots) set by Oh Ji-hyun and Jessica Koda in 2017, are also worth watching.

So far, 6 hole-in-ones have been created in this tournament. The most recent hole-in-one was recorded by Lee Jung-min on the 15th hole in the final round of 2018. It is expected that a hole-in-one will be born in this tournament after 4 years.

The player with the most wins in major tournaments among players on the KLPGA Tour is Hana Jang (30, BC Card) with a record of 4 wins. If Ha-na Jang wins this tournament, she will be tied for second place with Ji-ae Shin, who has a record of five major championships. He also becomes the only player to collect four of the KLPGA's five major championships.

Note) Record of multiple wins in major tournaments


▶ Fierce ranking competition
The competition for ranking on the KLPGA Tour is getting hotter with each tournament. Hae-ran Hae is chasing after Park Min-ji, who created a monopolistic system for prize rankings in the first half of the year. Yoo Hae-ran narrowed the gap with Park Min-ji, who ranked first in the prize money list, to about 56 million won by finishing as runner-up last week.

Although Yoo Hae-ran holds the first place in the grand prize point category, since the points given to the winner in major competitions are larger than in general competitions, this competition is a great opportunity to close the point gap for Park Ji-young, who is in second place. The Rookie of the Year award points are also in a pre-marital phase, with Madasom (23, Q Capital Partners) and Go Ji-woo (20, Dohui Edgar) chasing after Yewon Lee, who placed 1st place.

▶ Abundant special prizes like major competitions
As a major tournament, various special awards are plentiful. The winner will receive a cash prize of 252 million won and a Frederick Constant Lady automatic watch worth 5.1 million won.

Prizes were placed on all par 3 holes. The player who recorded the first hole-in-one at the 5th hole received a Rejuran skin treatment ticket and a diamond necklace worth 25 million won, the 'Hanwha Life Pension Insurance product' worth about 20 million won at the 7th hole, and 33 million won at the 13th hole. The 'Frederick Constant Manufacture Route Cost' and the 'Benz E350 4MATIC AVANTGARDE' worth about 85 million won on the 15th hole are given as hole-in-one prizes. In addition, 5 million won in cash will be awarded to the player with the course record, and 1 million won will be awarded to the player with the best score in each round.

▶ ‘Hanwha Classic 2022’ reborn as an eco-friendly competition
In order to deliver the sustainable future values ​​pursued by the Hanwha Group to the public and move forward toward an eco-friendly contest, the contest is running the ‘Green Keeper’ campaign in which you, me, and all of us take the lead as eco-friendly ambassadors. The products used during the competition use recycled materials, and eco-friendly paper and soybean oil ink are used for paper prints.

The uniforms worn by the event organizers are made of waste plastic yarn, and biodegradable (property that decomposes by bacteria) plastic garbage bags are distributed to all galleries entering the venue for waste reduction and efficient separate collection.

In addition, Hanwha Q CELLS prepared a special ceremony for the winner of this competition, such as awarding the ecotree, which helps reduce carbon, with the meaning of the Hanwha Classic moving toward an eco-friendly competition.

Hosted by Hanwha Q CELLS and organized by KLPGA, this competition will be broadcast live every round through SBS terrestrial broadcasters and the host broadcasters SBS Golf, Naver, Daum Kakao, Olleh TV and LG U+.

KLPGA
Strategic Marketing Division
Deputy Manager Kim Eui-joo

I'm curious why the longest rough wasn't at the Korean Woman's Open. 🤔 I guess having the longer rough HERE for a major is definitely appropriate.

I'm curious what the rough will be at Blue Heron.

aqstream.com/sbsg/SBS-Golf-Stream-2
SBS Golf Stream Link

Pairings (Notables)
1H
   08:20
Jae Hee Kim
Ji Hyun Kim
Ji V Ko
   11:40
Jung Min Hong
Su Ji Kim
Jenny Shin
   11:50
So Young Lee
Seo Yeon Kwon
Da Been Heo
   12:00
So Mi Lee
Han Sol Ji 
Yun Ji Jeong
   12:10
Yewon Lee
Ga Eun Song
Min Yeong2 Lee
   12:20
Jin Seon Han
Min Ji Park
Hae Ran Ryu

10H
   07:50
Ji Hyun Oh
Jeong Mee Hwang
In Kyung Kim
   08:00
Ji Hee Im
Min Song Ha
Ji Yeong2 Kim
   08:10
Hyun Kyung Park
Ga Young Lee
Jung Min Lee
   08:20
A Yeon Cho
Ye Rim Choi
Yu Jin Sung
   08:30
Ji Young Park
Hee Jeong Lim
Eun Hee Ji (Invited added late)
   11:50
Dasom Ma
Song Yi Ahn
Ji Won Hong


   

Hee Jeong Lim played a really bad round of golf.
Her overall game was off, she hit only two fairways back nine.
She missed them by a lot.
She didn't seem to make good decisions, like laying up from the rough back into the rough.
She is a fast player but this course setup for a Major she maybe should have taken a little more time.
Still if she fail to come back with a better round it's not all that bad, lots of Tournaments left.
Her swing looks ok, so she can fix her tempo and start playing good again.

Eun Hee Ji had a hard time with the rough because the easy setups on the LPGA doesn't have any like that.
She figured it out on the last hole to make a birdie.