2023 Honda LPGA Thailand (Feb 23 - 26)

[ChronicSlicer]

Congrats to Lilia!! Her patience has paid off.

Enjoyed the coverage as others have mentioned. Course must have been playing a bit on the easy side, even Muni He shot -10. 

 

The young Rory played great as well, until today, 4 bogies and a double aren't gonna let you raise a trophy on this tour. Looks like the nerves set in, stats were the worst of the week.

 

Glad to see JYK playing well, hope it continues.

 

Despite Lilia winning, I'm most impressed by Maria Fassi this week. This might be her best round of golf yet on tour. She had the driver working hitting 48/56 fairways, only 1 double  bogey in 4 rounds, averaged 28 putts per rd, 70% gir.

Crazy how much easier the game can be playing from the fairway

 

[18majors]

 

Congratulations to Lilia Vu, her putting this week has been stupendous!  She had 102 putts in 4 rounds, an average of 25.5 putts per round.  By comparison, Lydia had 112 putts and Nelly 115.

 

In addition to Lilia, star performers of this very young 2023 season are Lydia, Maja Starks, Aditi Ashok, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, Brooke Henderson and Atthaya Thitikul.  It's too early to say that we're having "a change of the guards"; but we've several fresh new faces making the waves.

[Kaysquare]

Congrats to Lilia Vu.....knew it had to happen, her putting was fantastic for a well deserved win.  I had to watch this tournament mostly on "mute", just cannot handle all the chatter from the Aussie women. When one of them said the fans have come out in their droves, I nearly lost it. 🤣

[18majors]

 

Just an aside, Lydia didn't have a bad week; she finished in a 4-way tie for 6th.  But, it's a bad week for her pocket book compared to her past two tournaments:

 

$2,000,000, $750,000 and $47,079 this week!

[Rapidcat]

23 minutes ago, Kaysquare said:

Congrats to Lilia Vu.....knew it had to happen, her putting was fantastic for a well deserved win.  I had to watch this tournament mostly on "mute", just cannot handle all the chatter from the Aussie women. When one of them said the fans have come out in their droves, I nearly lost it. 🤣

 

2 x Brits and 1 x Aussie.

 

Never call an Aussie a Brit (please).

[Kaysquare]

7 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

 

2 x Brits and 1 x Aussie.

 

Never call an Aussie a Brit (please).

Sorry, I try not to listen to any of them, even if they are in their droves.

[woahnelly]

I thought Jeeno would track down the leader, but I'm more glad it was Vu!  Once she birdied 9 I knew it would get spicy. Nice win, especially after being so close last week. Clearly in peak form right now, a top 10 CME season isn't out of the question. 

[Rapidcat]

6 minutes ago, Kaysquare said:

Sorry, I try not to listen to any of them, even if they are in their droves.

 

Cool, 70% of Aussies have UK and Irish heritage but we like to be different to them (and beat them in whatever sport).

 

Maybe think of it this way:

 

 

[iamthebeard]

9 hours ago, Thayneil said:

its about 6300   it was windy  today  so more of a test

 

6600 i think is fair for top class woman

 

 

 

Very standard LPGA setup there in Thailand other than moving the tee up on 16 every day  and 7 playing reachable every round vs it being a glorified par 3 

[khalespace]

Noticed that Lilia has no corporate logo on her clothes.  Hope she gets some. I used to practice where Lilia family practiced in 2002 to 2005. Lilia was a little chubby girl but the whole family was there 4 to 7pm every day. Her dad later became a coach. Her mum was very pretty. 

[North Texas]

9 hours ago, Thayneil said:

its about 6300   it was windy  today  so more of a test

 

6600 i think is fair for top class woman

 

 

 

6300 for the women is about the equivalent of 7400 for the men.

 

6600 for the women is about the equivalent of 7700 for the men. 

[Rapidcat]

17 minutes ago, North Texas said:

 

6300 for the women is about the equivalent of 7400 for the men.

 

6600 for the women is about the equivalent of 7700 for the men. 

 

I never understand this 'logic'.

 

Are you a fan of dog years?

[8602081]

1 hour ago, khalespace said:

Noticed that Lilia has no corporate logo on her clothes.  Hope she gets some. I used to practice where Lilia family practiced in 2002 to 2005. Lilia was a little chubby girl but the whole family was there 4 to 7pm every day. Her dad later became a coach. Her mum was very pretty. 

She is still little chubby, but in a cute way.  Love her name and I think she dresses better than 90% of LPGA players.

 

 

[Shilgy]

1 hour ago, Rapidcat said:

 

I never understand this 'logic'.

 

Are you a fan of dog years?

Average drive on ladies last year is ~255 yards vs 299.8 for the men.  Do the math his numbers were spot on.  

 

edit…actually the 6600 equivalent would be about 7764.  But the 6300 equivalent was spot on.

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Shilgy

[AKL Kiwi]

I don't think Vu stole the Rolex off Vongtaveelap she just found in the rough on Vongtaveelap's fourth. Unfortunately for Vongtaveelap the windy conditions found her out but hopefully she learnt from it. Lydia did what she needed to do....keep her gap at the top of the RR. That is now her best tournament at this course which does favour longer hitters. 

A couple of performances stood out JYK finished well....perhaps she felt she could push it more without re injuring herself at the end? and it was a disappointing tournament for Brooke and Minjee. 

 

10 hours ago, grm24 said:

How about we simply enjoy players for what they are in this moment w/o declaring them anything special going forward.

 

Have to agree and Kate Burton keeps using superlatives about every player when their career stats tell you differently. Sure a player can on a particular week or course can have a good tournament but she talks like they are all superstars ...having regard for the fact she is only commentating on the leaders then yes they are playing well this week!

[AKL Kiwi]

1 hour ago, 8602081 said:

She is still little chubby, but in a cute way

Yes her physique probably helped on a windy day...😂

[North Texas]

1 hour ago, Rapidcat said:

 

I never understand this 'logic'.

 

Are you a fan of dog years?

 

Huh?

[North Texas]

13 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Average drive on ladies last year is ~255 yards vs 299.8 for the men.  Do the math his numbers were spot on.  

 

edit…actually the 6600 equivalent would be about 7764.  But the 6300 equivalent was spot on.

 

 

I rounded down on the 6600, lol. 

[18majors]

17 minutes ago, AKL Kiwi said:

Lydia did what she needed to do....keep her gap at the top of the RR.

 

 

Remember, Nelly has a smaller denominator; advantage to her when both earned the same Rolex point!

[Titleist_PT23]

Saying 6,600 is "fair" (one's opinion) isn't saying the men's tour is fair at the current length (could be of the opinion the men's courses are too short as well).  Relatively speaking, the women have generally played longer courses based on median drive distance.

 

Obviously, length isn't the only defense a course has (and for good players, length itself may be the easiest to overcome).

 

I think the men tend to have more long par 3s/4s than the women.  However, the ball flight differences and ability to play out of the rough may explain some of this.

[One Putter]

Clutch stuff by Lilia. Bummer for V, missed out on capitalizing on a huge one. But still a winner with a great story.

[Thayneil]

6 hours ago, agolf1 said:

Saying 6,600 is "fair" (one's opinion) isn't saying the men's tour is fair at the current length (could be of the opinion the men's courses are too short as well).  Relatively speaking, the women have generally played longer courses based on median drive distance.

 

Obviously, length isn't the only defense a course has (and for good players, length itself may be the easiest to overcome).

 

I think the men tend to have more long par 3s/4s than the women.  However, the ball flight differences and ability to play out of the rough may explain some of this.

Last weeks Euro Tour was also played in Thailand  and the course measured at 7500  but again played shorter than that. All tees up 7 to 10 yards  with the 17th about 175  instead of the measured 235 .

 

Also several holes could be  cut down with a driver  that cut the dogleg.

 

Not many courses have  any room to extend  but it seems when the LPGA/Euro  tour come to town the courses get shorter  rather than longer

 

I was a member of a course in Aberdeen Scotland  where the Euro Senior tour was played  Thursday Friday Sunday and  the members played a medal on the Saturday. Several tees had to be pushed back on the Saturday to get a measured course  for the Medal!

[Thayneil]

11 hours ago, Kaysquare said:

Congrats to Lilia Vu.....knew it had to happen, her putting was fantastic for a well deserved win.  I had to watch this tournament mostly on "mute", just cannot handle all the chatter from the Aussie women. When one of them said the fans have come out in their droves, I nearly lost it. 🤣

it was incredibly well supported  many thousand each day,and compared to the Men  last week when virtually zero support apart from  the  associated  managers coaches wifes gf/s  etc

[Thayneil]

17 hours ago, iamthebeard said:

 

Very standard LPGA setup there in Thailand other than moving the tee up on 16 every day  and 7 playing reachable every round vs it being a glorified par 3 

Interesting.total yardage pretty constant.8th hole played very easy downhill 145 or so.all.par 5s reachable for many.Really the course played easier than a standard day for members  guests/ fee paying players

[JungleJimbo]

8 hours ago, Thayneil said:

it was incredibly well supported  many thousand each day,and compared to the Men  last week when virtually zero support apart from  the  associated  managers coaches wifes gf/s  etc

The recent years’ success for Thai pros on LPGA (and local Thais performing well at the Honda LPGA Thailand eg Ariya/Jeeno?) = presumably a factor w.r.t. fan attendance? 
 

Would you remember if there were any Thai male pros participating in the DP World /Thailand Classic tourney (Feb 2023)? 
eg Kiradech? Thongchai Jaidee?
Or the Asian Tour stalwarts? How about young up-and-comers eg “TK”?

Or “Pro Mo” (the young fellow being promoted by YouTuber “Golf Sidekick”?

https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/thailand-classic-2023/results 

Edited February 27, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[Thayneil]

15 hours ago, AKL Kiwi said:

I don't think Vu stole the Rolex off Vongtaveelap she just found in the rough on Vongtaveelap's fourth. Unfortunately for Vongtaveelap the windy conditions found her out but hopefully she learnt from it. Lydia did what she needed to do....keep her gap at the top of the RR. That is now her best tournament at this course which does favour longer hitters. 

A couple of performances stood out JYK finished well....perhaps she felt she could push it more without re injuring herself at the end? and it was a disappointing tournament for Brooke and Minjee. 

 

 

Have to agree and Kate Burton keeps using superlatives about every player when their career stats tell you differently. Sure a player can on a particular week or course can have a good tournament but she talks like they are all superstars ...having regard for the fact she is only commentating on the leaders then yes they are playing well this week!

Was  strong breeze across the course on Sunday.Not Scottish weather mind you still 31c but was less humid with that breeze

[Thayneil]

1 hour ago, JungleJimbo said:

The recent years’ success for Thai pros on LPGA (and local Thais performing well at the Honda LPGA Thailand eg Ariya/Jeeno?) = presumably a factor w.r.t. fan attendance? 
 

Would you remember if there were any Thai male pros participating in the DP World /Thailand Classic tourney (Feb 2023)? 
eg Kiradech? Thongchai Jaidee?
Or the Asian Tour stalwarts? How about young up-and-comers eg “TK”?

Or “Pro Mo” (the young fellow being promoted by YouTuber “Golf Sidekick”?

https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/thailand-classic-2023/results 

the three mentioned played

 

all made the cut   

 

Tk is super player   15 nearly 16  now   

 

legit plus 8 handicap  but not as good as  Charlie!

 

Pro Mo  is  Moriya Arias sister i belive  LPGA player

[JungleJimbo]

17 minutes ago, Thayneil said:

the three mentioned played

 

all made the cut   

 

Tk is super player   15 nearly 16  now   

 

legit plus 8 handicap  but not as good as  Charlie!

 

Pro Mo  is  Moriya Arias sister i belive  LPGA player

thanks @Thayneil for the reply

 

In this context ... "Pro Mo" = "Thaya Limpipolpaibul" a young male pro who is trying to get his card on an interational pro golf tour outside Thailand. (currently also a contributor on the "GOlf SIdekick" youtube channel

 

... in 2022, Pro Mo won a spot to play in the PGA Tour's 3M Open in Minnesota, via a regional qualifier in Thailand) <== Link here)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/@GolfSidekick/search?query=Pro mo

 

 

 

https://www.golfsidekick.com/about/#:~:text=Pro Mo Thaya-,Limpipolpaibul,-- Mo is a 

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[8602081]

19 hours ago, iamthebeard said:

 

Very standard LPGA setup there in Thailand other than moving the tee up on 16 every day  and 7 playing reachable every round vs it being a glorified par 3 

 

Thanks for the data..

 

This is around the same length as my local municipal courses.  It gives me hope that I can compete with ladies  😜..

 

[Rapidcat]

Far too short.

 

Hitting 7 irons for 2nd shots into par 5's.

 

What altitude is the course at?

 

Thayneil's comments have been interesting incl that a more appropriate par is 3 or 4 shots lower.