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HAIKOU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese players will face tough challenges against a world-class field when the SGF67 World Golf Ladies Championship with SBS tees off Friday at the Haikou Mission Hills.
China No.1 Feng Shanshan, who won the inaugural tournament in 2012, is absent from this year's event. Hainan-based player Zhang Weiwei remembers coming to the first tournament as a spectator and witnessing Feng's historic victory. She called the event, which is now in its sixth year, special to her.
"Feng Shanshan won that year. It was a proud time for every Chinese player. I had my dream. I thought that I could play this event against the elite players across the world one day. I did it in 2015, but I am really happy that it comes back this year," said the 26-year-old on Thursday's press conference.
With the event returning to the Mission Hills Haikou Blackstone Course where it was played the first four years after being played at Mission Hills Dongguan last year when South Korean Lee Jung-min won by a stroke, Zhang said she had played the 6,362-yard, par-73 Blackstone Course countless times in practice.
Zhang, who played on the Ladies European Tour (LET) as a rookie in 2015 and on the China LPGA Tour last year, said her familiarity with the course put her in good standing.
"I have finished top-25 in two tournaments I have played here, so I feel a low score is out there. There are five par-5 holes, and four of them are reachable, and you should seize the scoring opportunities. The rest is all about limiting your mistakes. You must avoid sloppy bogeys. I like my chance this week," she said.
With the event tri-authorized between the China LPGA Tour, LET and the LPGA Tour of South Korea (KLPGA), the 126-player field includes 40 players from each Tour plus six sponsor invites.
