Thailand’s top golfers have always had a strong affiliation for Chinese-Taipei. Many of them have enjoyed success on the archipelago, thanks, they say, to the many friends they have made there and the famous food. Story from the 2023 Asian Tour Yearbook.

Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai is a fine example of this, and to be more specific Taifong is the place on the island nation where he is happiest, for very obvious reasons.

At the end of 2022 he finished joint second in the Taifong Open at Taifong Golf Club. It was the final event of the season on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the result allowed him to wrap up the ADT Order of Merit (OOM) title and earn his Asian Tour card for the 2023 season.

And exactly one year later, with the event promoted on to the Asian Tour at the same venue, he cantered to a four-shot victory in the US$400,000 Taiwan Glass Taifong Open to secure his first victory on the Asian Tour.

Suteepat Prateeptienchai. Picture courtesy of Taifong Open.

The Asian Tour rookie, who had a two-stroke lead at the start of the day, shot a fine four-under-par 68 to finish on 19-under – in the second from last event of the season on the Asian Tour.

Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai fired a 66 to finish second with Malaysian Shahriffuddin Ariffin who came in with a 69. It was the best performance by both players on the Asian Tour.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand and Korean Seungtaek Lee tied for fourth, after they both returned 68s.

Five birdies in a row from the third set up Suteepat for the win and allowed him to stroll to victory despite the enormity of the occasion.

Thirty-year-old Suteepat, a professional since 2017, burst onto the scene in 2022 with three ADT wins, all in Indonesia, which marked him down as a potential star of the future.

He enjoyed as strong debut season on the main Tour with five top-20 finishes before putting the finishing touches to his season with a fine victory.

“Really happy, I love this place,” said Suteepat, who won US$72,000 and leapt into 24th place on the Asian Tour OOM, from 53rd.

Shahriffuddin Ariffin. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

“I won the ADT title here, I got my Asian Tour card from here, yeah, I love it. I just stuck to my game plan and my putter got really hot with those five birdies in a row. None of the putts were short really, the shortest was 10 feet.”

With a substantial lead heading into the back nine he could afford to make three successive bogeys from the 14th before he restored order with a birdie on 17.

He added: “I didn’t chip well on those holes. I missed all those greens and could not get up and down.”

Atiruj and Ariffin both took giant steps towards securing their Tour cards for 2024, with the former moving into 55th place on the OOM, from 80th, and the latter into 60th position, from 91st. Come the end of the season they both comfortably finished in the top-65 to safely make it through to the new season.

“I was thinking about the Order of Merit all day to be honest, but I have been in this situation before, so I have experience,” said Atiruj.

“I just kept my head down and concentrated. I felt a bit nervous on the last few holes. It was a long week and a tough year. I just changed my swing with my coach and the results have now come.”

Said Ariffin: “It’s a big relief. The top five was my target so I am really happy to have done better than that. When he [Suteepat] made those five birdies in a row I knew we were playing for second. Just need to play well in Saudi.”