Release Date: March 25, 2025

The 2025 TPGA Tour season will officially ignite tomorrow (March 26), with the opening event of the CHAU SHI Series — the Chang Wah Open — teeing off at Hsin Yi Golf Club in Kaohsiung. This tournament marks the first TPGA Tour event since joining the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system on January 5 this year, ushering the tour into a new era. It also serves as the first stop in this year’s CHAU SHI Series, which has expanded from 8 events to 10 since its inclusion in the TPGA schedule in 2021. With a total purse of NT$3 million and NT$500,000 awarded to the champion, the tournament will be played over four rounds and 72 holes from March 26 to March 29, featuring 144 players — 131 professional golfers from 7 countries and 13 amateurs. Defending champion Chang Wei-lun returns to seek back-to-back victories.

This tour is sponsored under the personal title of Mr. Wong Chau-shi, Honorary Chairman of the Mercuries Group, with Chang Wah Group serving as the title sponsor for the fourth consecutive year. The event is organized by TPGA and co-hosted by Hsin Yi Golf Club.

This year, the TPGA Tour has opened its Qualifying Tournament to international players, general amateurs, and amateur trainees. The qualifying event concluded in late January, with the top 40 finishers earning full season TPGA Tour cards for 2025. As a result, each event this year will feature a strong presence of foreign players, intensifying the level of competition.

This tournament has attracted players from seven nations: 29 from Japan, 6 from Thailand, 2 from the United States, and 1 each from Italy, Australia, and the Philippines, alongside 104 Taiwanese players.

The Chang Wah Group, including Chang Wah Electromaterials, Chang Wah Technology, and JMC Electronics, are all publicly listed companies. Chang Wah Electromaterials is a distributor of semiconductor packaging materials. Chang Wah Technology specializes in lead frame manufacturing, while JMC Electronics focuses on high-end tape substrate IC packaging.

Today (March 25), a one-day 18-hole pro-am event was held as a pre-tournament activity, pairing 25 professional players with over 70 amateur participants from the community.

The pro-am was played in a New Scramble format, followed by an awards banquet held at Hsin Yi Golf Club. Professional golfer Wang Wei-hsuan teamed up with three amateurs to shoot an impressive 61, 11 strokes under par, and took the championship. Each amateur player received a premium PING golf bag. The organizers also prepared a wide range of raffle prizes for the participants.

Hung Chuan-cheng, Chairman of Chang Wah Electromaterials, stated that this marks the fourth consecutive year that Chang Wah Group has served as the title sponsor of the TPGA season opener. He expressed pride in the event’s past success and pledged to continue sponsoring the tournament for the next three years.

Chen Chih-hung, President of Chang Wah Group, also expressed gratitude to the guests who attended today’s event and wished all players outstanding performances in the season opener.

TPGA Chairman Chen Jun-hsin remarked that the passion of the people in Kaohsiung was even warmer than today’s blazing sun. He noted this event is the first to offer OWGR points after four years of efforts and is pleased to see young Taiwanese players maturing through these competitions and gradually stepping up to challenge the Asian, Japan, and PGA Tours. He hopes that more businesses will support the sport through sponsorships and event hosting.

Hsin Yi Golf Club is hosting the TPGA season opener for the fourth consecutive year.

Chang Wah Group, with a history spanning over 30 years, has long supported sports in Taiwan. The group continues to back golf with corporate resources and a belief in giving back to society, upholding corporate social responsibility and engaging in public welfare.

The CHAU SHI Series was founded by Mr. Wong Chau-shi, a co-founder and Honorary Chairman of the Mercuries Group, in 2021. Amid the pandemic, TPGA events and prize pools were severely reduced. Mr. Wong stepped up to provide personal title sponsorship, funding six tournaments with NT$2 million each — totaling NT$12 million — to establish the foundation for the tour’s continuity. With the number of events gradually increasing over the past two years, the same sponsorship model and funding continue this year, with two more events added to last year’s eight, making it ten in total. This brings the 2025 TPGA schedule to a record 20 events, plus 9 ThreeBond Challenge Tour events, totaling 29 tournaments — the most in TPGA’s 32-year history since its founding in 1993.

The CHAU SHI Series also features a special Winner of the Order of Merit (OOM) award. The winner among the 10 CHAU SHI Series events will receive an additional NT$200,000 from Honlin Construction Chairman Lin Kuo-er, along with a guaranteed spot in next year’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters.

This opening event has attracted a star-studded local field. Nearly all of last year’s top 60 money list players are competing. Nine of the top ten on the 2024 TPGA money list are present, including the tour’s first foreign OOM winner, Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai; third-ranked Liu Yung-hua; fourth-ranked Wang Wei-hsuan (2024 CHAU SHI Series OOM Winner); fifth-ranked Hung Chien-yao; sixth-ranked Chang Wei-lun (defending champion); seventh Lu Wei-chih; ninth Hsieh Chi-hsien; tenth Yeh Yu-cheng; as well as Chan Shih-chang, winner of the OOM in 2022 and 2023, eighth-ranked Su Chin-hung, the ThreeBond Challenge Tour OOM champion with four titles, and Japan Tour veteran Yu Sung-po.

Among them, Liu Yung-hua captured three TPGA titles last year (Changhua, Nan Pao, and Chase Sun Run Opens), while both Wang Wei-hsuan (Chasing Dream, Ching Lien Ho Teng Feng Opens) and Chang Wei-lun (Chang Wah, Da Hu Ren Jia Opens) each won twice. 2024 Kaohsiung Open champion Lu Wei-chih and Mizuno Open champion Yu Sung-po are also in the field, adding to the intensity of the competition.

Thailand’s strong contenders should not be underestimated. Notably, Suteepat Prateeptienchai, last year’s TPGA OOM winner and dual champion on both the TPGA and Asian Tours, having won the Yungde TPC Championship and the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open, as well as fellow Thai Tawit Polthai, champion of last year’s Peng Yi Open. Another Thai player, Warun Leamgaew, finished 24th in last year’s TPGA money list. In addition, Shotaro Ban of the U.S., ranked 11th, will also contend for the title.

After two rounds of play, the top 50 players with the lowest scores will advance to the final two rounds. The champion will earn NT$500,000, while the runner-up will receive NT$250,000.

Hsin Yi Golf Club features a total course length of 7,459 yards, favoring long hitters. Putting and short game around the greens will also be critical challenges. The club has meticulously prepared the course and greens to ensure the players can deliver their best performances.

For the first two rounds, play will be split into morning and afternoon groups, with tee times starting simultaneously from holes 1 and 10. The first morning group tees off at 6:30 AM, and the last at 8:25 AM. Afternoon groups start at 11:05 AM, with the final group teeing off at 1:00 PM.

Special prizes are also offered in this tournament:
Hole-in-One Prizes:
(1) Hole 3 and 6 on the OUT course, and Hole 4 and 8 on the IN course (i.e., Holes 3, 6, 13, and 17 during competition) — Hsin Yi Golf Club offers NT$20,000 and related products for each.
(2) Hole 17 — Tung Hui Watch provides a Bell & Ross watch valued at NT$168,000 for the first hole-in-one during the four official rounds (professional players only).
(3) Unlimited hole and winner count — Da An Group offers a free one-night stay in the Presidential Suite of Lishan Guesthouse, valid any day.

Course Record Bonus: Breaking the course record of 63 (held by Chen Chi-chun) will earn NT$20,000, sponsored by Hsin Yi Golf Club.

Both-well Group & Cheng Guan Yuan Golf Range are sponsoring free unlimited range use for participating players from March 25 to March 28.

During the final two rounds, the event will offer an Athlete Care Station, providing free physiotherapy, protection, and muscle-relief massage services to players.

Spectators are welcome during the tournament. To enter the course, spectators must pay a NT$30 facility and cleaning fee at the starting station, provide their information, and receive a viewing pass. Spectators must use the cart path and note that there is no shuttle transportation between holes. For safety reasons, children under 6 and pets are not recommended on the course.

The final two rounds of the tournament will be broadcast in highlight replay format on April 8 and 9 at 4 PM. This year’s broadcasting platforms include TPGA’s Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo Sports, LINE’s Golfourit, TPGA’s official website, ELTA Sports, Line Today, and Golf Media’s nationwide golf course digital signage network, covering 20 golf clubs across Taiwan.