The inaugural Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open is set to make its long-awaited debut at the Tanah Merah Country Club from December 9-11 and will serve as the curtain raiser of the 2023 Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour (KLPGA Tour) season.
The creation of a national women’s open in Singapore also underlines title sponsor Hana Financial Group’s drive to develop women’s golf in the region.
The Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open, promoted by Mediapro Asia, will become the first tournament in four years to be staged outside Korea since Vietnam played host to the Hyosung Championship in December 2018.
Boasting a lucrative prize purse of SGD $1.1 million, the tournament jointly sanctioned by Singapore Golf Association (SGA) and KLPGA, was initially scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore is the third South-East Asian country after Vietnam and Brunei to form part of the KLPGA Tour as it continues to expand its presence in the region.
The Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open field will feature 102 players comprising leading KLPGA Tour players of the 2022 KLPGA Tour season and players from Asia Pacific countries mutually agreed players by SGA and AGLF which are made up of local and regional rising stars not playing on the KLPGA Tour.
Singapore’s leading professional Koh Sock Hwee will spearhead the local charge which is also expected to feature the likes of talented amateurs Shannon Tan, Aloysa Margiela Atienza and Jaymie Ng.
The tournament will also be the season-opening event on the burgeoning Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) Series. In 2022, the DB Group 36th Korea Women’s Open in June, Simone Asia-Pacific Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia in August and the Hana Financial Group Championship, a major event of the KLPGA Tour in September were part of the series.
Operated by the Asia Golf Leaders Forum (AGLF), the LAT Series is a Korean non-profit organisation that aspires to further promote women’s golf in Asia and unite Asian countries through the new circuit launched in 2020.
