Out of the Rough: Blue Bay LPGA (2026)

The LPGA Tour looks to put a cap on its early season stay in Asia for this week’s Blue Bay LPGA.

The Blue Bay LPGA was established in 2014. It was not played in 2019 through 2023, making this season the eighth edition of the event.

The Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course in Hainan Island, China will once again play host this week, just as it has since the tournament’s inception in 2014.

The Field

Opposed to the first three events we’ve seen so far this season, the Blue Bay LPGA is a full-field event, seeing 108 of the world’s best women golfers teeing it up this week.

However, the majority of the Tour’s best, that we’ve seen across the last three events, will be idle this week as they prepare for the start of the United States based events in a few weeks time.

China’s own Ruoning Yin headlines this week’s field, being the highest ranked women in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings at eighth.

Other notable golfers teeing it up this week include Hye-Jin Choi (No 14,) Rio Takeda (No. 15,) A Lim Kim (No. 26,) Youmin Hwang (No. 29) and Ayaka Furue (No. 30.)

Takeda comes in as the defending champion, shooting an eight-under 64 on Sunday to win by six-strokes over Minjee Lee.

The only other winner of this event playing this week is Bailey Tardy (2024.) 

The Course

The Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course in Hainan Island, China plays as a par-72 at 6,712 yards.

It is a Mark Hollinger of JMP Golf Design designed course and was opened in 2012.

The course was laid along the coastline of Hainan Island, establishing a ‘tropical links-style’ design.

The links-style of this course is prevalent with the use of identical paspalum turf throughout the rough, fairways and greens.

Off-the-tee, this course shows its teeth with a lengthy list of defenses that it offers.

The fairways are lined by sandy waste areas that feature red-ish local sand, wooden sleepered bunkers, palm trees and bougainvillea landscape plantings.

On approach, due to the firm-and-fast conditions of this venue, golfers will need to take a bump-and-run approach into the greens where high-arching approach shots will be darn-near-impossible to hold.

Overall, the course is designed to play firm-and-fast from tee-to-green.

Of course, to add to the extensive list of defenses, being a coast-line venue, the coastal winds too will play a hand in how this course is played.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday currently calls for a 35-percent chance of precipitation, Friday a 30-percent chance, Saturday a 25-percent chance and Sunday a 25-percent chance. Temperatures will begin the week at 75-degrees before decreasing to 74-degrees on Friday. From there, temperatures will increase to 77-degrees on Saturday and finish the week at 79-degrees on Sunday. Winds are set for 14 miles-per-hour for all of Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Saturday is calling for 13 miles-per-hour winds.

Key Stats

• Stroked Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Total Driving

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Scrambling

• 3-Putt Avoidance

Betting Card

Ruoning Yin (+2000)

Leading off my card is China’s own Ruoning Yin. She finished last season seven on Tour in scrambling, tenth in SG: TTG, 17th in total driving, 72nd in three-putt avoidance, 79th in sand saves percentage and 86th in SG: PUTT. She placed T33rd at this event a season ago and 59th in 2024. She’s played each of the first three events of the season, placing 41st last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, 15th at the Honda LPGA Thailand and 17th at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. 

Jenny Shin (+9000)

Shin teed it up last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship where she placed 34th. She finished last season third on Tour in sand saves percentage, 16th in three-putt avoidance, 29th in SG: PUTT, 45th in scrambling, 51st in total driving and 85th in SG: TTG. She was slated to play this event in 2024 but withdrew prior to the first round. 

Robyn Choi (+20000)

Choi hasn’t had a great start to the season with a 60th place finish last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and a 65th place finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand. However, at 200/1 in this field, I simply could not ignore that. She last played this event in 2024 where she missed the cut. Choi finished last season sixth on Tour in SG: PUTT, seventh in sand saves percentage, 20th in scrambling, 30th in three-putt avoidance, 44th in total driving and 112th in SG: TTG.