2024 Fubon Senior Open Slated to Tee Off on Nov. 13, with Prize Money Increased to NT$6 M!

Senior Veterans from 13 Countries to Vie for Championship Trophy at Taiwan Golf & Country Club

Youth Inheritance Camp to Carry on Spirit of Heritage on Nov. 11

"Fubon Senior Open", the most time-honored senior golf tournament featuring the highest level of competition in Taiwan, is prepared to receive a major upgrade as the prize money has been increased from US$175,000 to US$187,500 (US$168,750 for regular seniors and US$18,750 for super seniors) this year! Beginning from Nov. 13, veteran senior golfers from 13 countries are set to gather at Taiwan Golf & Country Club, the most iconic golf course in Taiwan, to compete for the top honor at the most important tournament on the calendar of the Taiwan Senior Professional Golf Association (TSPGA). In keeping with the tournament's tradition of "heritage", organizers will also hold the annual Youth Inheritance Camp before the tournament, where tournament co-founder Tony Hsieh and a handful of senior golfers from Taiwan and abroad will offer their personal instruction and advice to more than 10 amateur golfers.

As the marquee event of the TSPGA, Fubon Senior Open has stayed true to itself while firmly standing by the "heritage" objective over the past 22 years. For this year's edition of the critically acclaimed Youth Inheritance Camp, Hsieh will team up with defending champion Thaworn Wiratchant, three-time Fubon Senior Open champion Lu Wen-teh (1963), 2022 Fubon Senior Open winner Tsai Chi-huang, and Masahiro Kuramoto of Japan - who has racked up 30 wins on the Japan Golf Tour - to share their valuable experiences with the young amateurs, in addition to giving them a lesson or two when they play alongside each other.

The Fubon Group, devoted to promoting health and sports, is a long-standing supporter of sports in Taiwan, having nurtured many elite athletes and sponsored/title-sponsored a variety of international sporting events spanning a wide spectrum of disciplines. In terms of golf, the Group is the only business entity in Taiwan to have sponsored the European Senior Tour (Fubon Senior Open), LPGA (Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship) and JPGA (Fubon Yeangder JPGA Senior Open) as title sponsor. By doing so, the Group has successfully brought the world's top three professional golf tours to Taiwan, provided an excellent opportunity for players to hone their skills and compete with the world's best golfers, and made substantial contributions to aligning Taiwan with the international golf community. "It has been 22 years since the inaugural Fubon Senior Open was held in 2002, and this year we have increased the purse in hopes of drawing more outstanding players to the field, thereby generating more highlights and topics for this tournament," said Tsai.

Tony Hsieh, who co-founded this tournament with Tsai in 2002, has dedicated himself to developing young talented golfers over the past ten years, and he is very grateful for the support he received from his mentors when he was still a young up-and-coming golfer. According to Hsieh, the field this year is made up players from a whopping 13 countries, including European, American, Asian and Oceanic players, thanks to the unwavering support of the Fubon Group. Tony Hsieh is very gratified that young golfers from Taiwan have really made a name for themselves recently, as evidenced by Kevin Yu's victory at the PGA Tour's Sanderson Farms Championship on Oct. 6, making him the third Taiwanese player to triumph on the PGA Tour after T. C. Chen and C. T. Pan.

The star-studded field this year is nothing short of spectacular. The top 30 players on the TSPGA's order of merit for 2023 are all in the field, including last year's order of merit winner Lin Chie-hsiang, as well as Lu Wen-teh (1963), Weng Young-tien, Wang Ter-chang, and Hsieh Chin-sheng. It is worth mentioning that T. C. Chen, who picked up his ground-breaking victory at the LA Open in 1987, lost to the eventual winner Lu Wen-teh (1963) in sudden-death playoff at the 2020 Fubon Senior Open. Chen will attempt a comeback this year, adding more drama as the plot thickens.

Furthermore, Lu Chien-soon, who also walked away with the win at the 2015 Fubon Senior Open, Tsai Chi-huang, who pulled off a surprise win in 2022 after a hiatus of 10 years, and well-known veterans such as Chung Chun-hsing, Chang Tse-peng, former Japan Tour player Yeh Chang-ting, and 2000 Malaysian Open champion Yeh Wei-tze also add more depth to the field

The invited international players are equally impressive. Apart from Kuramoto and Wiratchant, the international side of the roster includes Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand (currently ranked 9th on the money list of Japan Senior Tour), Yoshinobu Tsukada of Japan (ranked 28th on the Japan Senior Tour), 2014 Fubon Senior Open winner Kim Jong-Duck of South Korea, five-time Asian Tour winner Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand, and Zhang Lian-wei, the first Chinese player to record wins both on the European Tour and Senior European Tour. With the addition of these celebrated international golfers, the tournament is shaping to be even more competitive.

The six amateur players invited to participate this year include Hsieh Ping-hua, winner of the lady's group in the 2024 Taiwan Junior High School Amateur Golf Team Championships, Wang You-jun, winner of the men's group B at the 2024 Sun Flower Youth Cup Tournament, Shen Yen-yu, winner of the men's group at the 2024 Hsin Yi Junior Golf Championships, Kuo Shih-chi, low amateur at the 2023 Fubon Senior Open, Zhuo Yu-de, first runner-up at Sun Flower Youth Cup Tournament, and Sasaki Ikuno, winner of the lady's group A at the 2023 BNP PARIBAS &TLPGA Heritage Tour.

The 2024 Fubon Senior Open will kick off with a warm-up pro-am pairing event on Nov. 12. After completing the first two rounds, the 96 players in the Regular Senior group will be cut down to 60 (including ties) for the final round. The Super Senior group competition will take place on Nov. 14 and 15, featuring 28 players aged 65 or older such as Tony Hsieh and Chen Tze-ming in 36-hole stroke play. With a purse of NT$6 million (US$187,500), this event offers the highest prize money on the TSPGA. No tickets are needed to enter the golf course, so fans are all encouraged and invited to come out and root for their favorite players.

 Tune in to the official Fubon channel on YouTube for live tournament coverage on Nov. 14 and 15: https://pse.is/6kkeze

 Visit TSPGA on Facebook: https://pse.is/6kkg9z

Photo 1: 2024 Fubon Senior Open is slated to take place at the Taiwan Golf & Country Club between Nov. 13 and 15.

Photo 2: Fubon Group Chairman Daniel Tsai (second from left), tournament co-founder Tony Hsieh (right), former Japan Senior Tour Commissioner Masahiro Kuramoto (second from right), and Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) independent director John Keith Ball teed off at the opening ceremony in 2023.

Photo 3: Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant clinched the 2023 Fubon Senior Open championship after playoff.

Photo 4: Chen Tze-ming won the Super Senior championship with a two-round total of 147 at the 2023 Fubon Senior Open.