Golfers in Hengqin seeking to recover from Brunei

The first stop in the China LPGA Tour has 120 golfers from 14 countries and regions vying for total prize money of 500,000 yuan ($79,090) from March 22 to 24 in Hengqin New Area.

Among them at Orient (Zhuhai) Golf Country Club is Shi Yuting, winner of the Le Coq Sportif Beijing Ladies Classic who, however, just failed to make the cut at the Brunei Ladies Open last week. Whether she can find some solace in Zhuhai, where she won her first pro tournament -- the 2016 Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Challenge -- is the question.

Also competing are Li Jiayun, former head of the Chinese national golf team; Tahnia Ravnjak, winner of the 2018 China LPGA Tour qualifying tournament; and rising Chinese star Du Mohan. Other participants in the current Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Challenge are from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Contestants practice [Photo by Song Yinuo & Hu Yukan / Zhuhai Daily]

Ravnjak, an Aussie pro who missed the cut by a fair margin in the Brunei Ladies Open, told Xinhua News: "I had a great experience in Brunei last week and learnt a lot about myself, my game, and what I have to work on to reach the next step. There are lots of great players in CLPGA and you really have to play well to earn your position in the field."

Founded in Beijing in 2008, the China LPGA Tour is hosted by the China Golf Association (CGA) and is the only officially recognized women's professional golf tournament in China. It joined the Women's World Golf Rankings in 2013 and has nearly 300 international players, which makes it the fifth largest women's tour after those of the US, Japan, Europe, and South Korea.