Kim Min-sol, who used her long-hitting ability to card two birdies on par-5 holes. [Photo=KLPGA]
Kim Min-sol, who used her long-hitting ability to card two birdies on par-5 holes. [Photo=KLPGA]

The Hite Jinro Championship, now in its 26th year, is widely regarded as one of the KLPGA Tour's most demanding major setups — a reputation made possible by the tournament's unique circumstances. With a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.1 million), the event is held at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, owned by title sponsor Hite Jinro Group, giving organizers the freedom to begin intensive course preparation a full month before the opening round. The par-72, 6,779-yard layout is toughened up each year with grown-out rough and firmed-up greens to match the prestige of a major championship.

The course setup at the Hite Jinro Championship has earned a fearsome reputation, though a more fitting description might be that it serves as a genuine proving ground for a true major champion. At the 24th edition two years ago — when Kim Su-ji won as the only player to finish under par — the difficulty reached such extremes that tournament officials were reportedly asked by players to ease the setup due to injury concerns over the narrow fairways and deep rough.

Kim Su-ji, however, was untroubled by the conditions. "It was the toughest course I played all year," she said in an interview at the time. "But for a major, this kind of setup is necessary. Playing on a difficult course is how you find out where you're lacking and push yourself to improve."

Thursday's opening round produced more of the same struggle. Of the 106 players in the field, only seven finished under par. Leading the way is Kim Min-sol, who has three wins this season. She carded three birdies against one bogey for a 2-under-par 70, putting her one stroke ahead of a six-way tie for second that includes Park Bo-gyeom, Moon Jeong-min, Kim Ji-su, Yun Su-a, Seo Eo-jin and Lee Seung-yeon.

Kim navigated the deep, thick rough, fast and firm greens, and tricky pin positions better than anyone in the field. Leaning on her trademark power off the tee, she made birdies on the par-5 seventh and 10th holes, then added a 2.8-meter birdie on the par-4 ninth. Her only blemish came at the par-3 11th, where she missed a 2-meter par putt for her lone bogey.

"Personally, these were the fastest greens I've played on all year," Kim said after her round. "With autumn setting in, the greens felt even firmer than usual. I didn't think this would be a course where many good scores would come in. That said, the fairways felt relatively wider than at the last edition of this tournament, and the rough wasn't as long as I expected, so overall it felt a bit more manageable for me compared to before."

Park Bo-gyeom, who won the previous major — the KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship — opened with a 1-under 71, carding two birdies and one bogey to share second place. "Blackstone, where I won, is also a very difficult and demanding course, but Blue Heron feels even harder," Park said. "The tee shots are tough from the start, so today was another grueling day. I came in feeling confident, but that disappeared after just three holes." She laughed.

Ryu Hae-ran, who claimed back-to-back major titles on the LPGA Tour this season, finished at 1-over-par 73 with two birdies and three bogeys, placing her in a tie for 12th.

"I put in a lot of work trying to adjust to the turf conditions even during practice," Ryu said. "Even so, I was playing a bit tense today, and I think that led to a lot of distance misses with my irons. Based on today's experience, I plan to pay closer attention to my second-shot distances tomorrow and work through the round from there."

Kim's chief rival, Seo Gyo-rim, had a difficult start, dropping two strokes on two birdies and four bogeys to sit in a tie for 22nd, four shots off the lead. Seo, who leads the tour this season with four wins and tops both the points and prize-money rankings, will need to make up ground in the second round.


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