The first round of the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills has concluded with Ruo Ning Yin of China taking an early lead after shooting an opening-round five-under-par 67. Yin got off to a hot start after making birdie on two of her first three holes to set the tone for her bogey-free round.
Sitting one shot back is defending champion Nanako Inagaki. She made six birdies, including five on the back nine, in route to a four-under-par 32 to close out her round. The Japanese native also recently competed in the ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex, where she finished T37. Tied for second with Inagaki is Ting-Hsuan Huang of Chinese Taipei.
Launched in 2011 as China’s first and only all-girls event, this year’s edition features another collection of top talent. Players hail from 8 different countries from as far away as Singapore.
Top female golfers ages nine to 17 are competing for WAGR ranking points as well as the title. In addition, the winner will receive invitations to compete in the EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open, May 10-12, 2019, and CLPGA’s Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge, June 6-8, both professional events. Finally, the top-three amateurs from Mission Hills will be invited to play in the 2019 ANNIKA Invitational USA.
Second-round tee times will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees of the Annika Course at Mission Hills Golf Club in Dongguan.
For the full leaderboard, click here.