Out of the Rough: BMW Ladies Championship (2026)

The LPGA continues on with its lone stop in South Korea for this week’s BMW Ladies Championship.

This event was established in 2019 and is a limited-field event, seeing just 84-players take to the tees each season.

Co-sanctioned between the LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Korea Tour, this event is nomadic, rotating amongst the best courses South Korea has to offer each season.

It replaced the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship as the LPGA lone Korean stop on its Asian Swing.

This year’s event will be held at Pine Beach Golf Links, which is playing host for the second time, also hosting this event a season ago.

The Field

This week’s event will see a limited 84-golfer field and will not feature a cut.

World No. 3 Haeran Ryu headlines this week’s field as the highest ranked golfer within the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to be teeing it up this week.

She’ll be joined by home favorite Hyo Joo Kim (No. 5,) Lottie Woad (No. 7) and Sei Young Kim (No. 9) as those ranked within the top ten of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to be playing this week.

Of course, being played on Korean soil, and the strength of the women’s golf game in the country, there will be a strong Korean field in hopes of winning on home soil.

Outside of Hyo Joo Kim and Sei Young Kim, Ina Yoon, Jin Hee Im, Hye-Jin Choi, In Gee Chun and Jenny Shin are notable South Koreans on the LPGA Tour to be seeking a home victory this week.

As this event is consanctioned between the LPGA Tour and LPGA of Korea Tour, multiple LPGA of Korea Tour regulars that are currently ranked within the top-50 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings will also be teeing it up this week.

The most notable name of the LPGA of Korea Tour is Minsol Kim, who is currently ranked 13th in the World.

She’ll be joined by Kyorim Seo (No. 32) as they look to upset the ladies of the LPGA tour this week.

Sei Young Kim comes in as the defending champion, as she cruised to a four-stroke victory on home soil a season ago.

The Course

Pine Beach Golf Links plays as a par-72 at roughly 6,785 yards.

It was constructed along a rocky cliff on the remote southwest coast of the Korean peninsula and opened in 2009.

It was designed by Gary Roger Baird and David Dale.

The course, described as Asia’s version of Pebble Beach due to the similarities, offers spectacular coastal scenery while challenging the best golfers in the world.

Take note of the par-three 15th which looks awfully similar to Cypress Point’s 16th.

The course is laid out with ten of the holes being perched on the jagged coastline where smaller peninsulas extend 200 meters into the sea.

A number of greens and tee boxes sit along the beach and atop cliffs as golfers will hit onto dramatic sloping fairways with intimidating bunkers.

All 18 of the fairways were routed to take full advantage of the site’s geographical offerings, as the architects laid out the course to give every opportunity for it to be exposed to the water’s edge.

For example, the 430-yard 16th sees a water carry as a retaining wall was built along the edge of the cliff as the Yellow Sea lies along the right side of the fairway. 

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday is calling for a near zero-percent chance of precipitation. Friday is calling for the same. Saturday is forecasted for a 60-percent chance of showers and Sunday a 60-percent chance of light rain. Temperatures will be the lowest on Thursday with a high of 66-degrees before jumping to a high of 71-degrees for both Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will peak at 72-degrees on Sunday. Winds are currently set for nine miles-per-hour for Thursday through Saturday. Winds will drastically increase on Sunday as they are currently forecasted for 13 miles-per-hour.

Key Stats

• - Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• - Strokes Gained: Driving (SG: DRIVE)

• - Total Driving (60-percent average driving distance / 40-percent driving accuracy percentage)

• - Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• - Scrambling

• - Sand Saves Percentage

• - Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• - Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

Betting Card

Hyo Joo Kim (+1800)

Kim missed the cut in her latest outing at the LOTTE Championship but prior to that was the runner-up at the FM Championship. She also placed 31st at the CPKC Women’s Open, 16th at the AIG Women’s Open, 16th at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, 26th at The Amundi Evian Championship, 42nd at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and second at the Dow Championship. On Tour, she is currently fifth in scrambling, tenth in SG: ATG, 20th in SG: PUTT, 21st in sand saves percentage, 28th in SG: DRIVE, 30th in total driving, 33rd in SG: APP and 88th in GIR%. She also played this event and course a season ago where she placed T10th. 

Gaby Lopez (+4500)

Lopez is the complete package this week in my eyes. She’s in good form, matches up well statistically this week and is priced very well in this field. Lopez placed tenth last week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Prior to that she placed 25th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, 27th at the FM Championship and 57th at the CPKC Women’s Open. She is currently second on Tour in SG: PUTT, 18th in scrambling, 25th in SG: DRIVE, 40th in SG: ATG, 46th in total driving, 49th in GIR%, 68th in sand saves percentage and 108th in SG: APP. She also placed T45th at this event a season ago.

Maja Stark (+5000)

I really like what Stark brings to the table this week. She is currently 11th on Tour in SG: APP, 17th in GIR%, 26th in total driving, 54th in SG: DRIVE, 61st in scrambling, 66th in SG: ATG, 88th in sand saves percentage and 142nd in SG: PUTT. Stark returned to form in her latest outing, placing fifth at the LOTTE Championship. Prior to that she had missed back-to-back cuts at the CPKC Women’s Open and The Standard Portland Classic but before that placed 36th at the AIG Women’s Open, 19th at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, tenth at The Amundi Evian Championship, 37th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, ninth at the Dow Championship and eighth at the U.S. Women’s Open. She also placed T24th here a season ago. 

Narin An (+7500)

An heads to home soil in hopes of claiming her first LPGA title. She was great at this event a season ago, placing T7th. She also comes into this week in great form. She placed 18th last week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, 21st at the LOTTE Championship, missed the cut at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, placed 13th at the FM Championship, 23rd at the CPKC Women’s Open and fifth at The Standard Portland Classic. On Tour An is currently 13th in scrambling, 14th in GIR%, 20th in SG: ATG, 53rd in SG: APP, 67th in sand saves percentage, 79th in both SG: DRIVE and total driving and 133rd in SG: PUTT. 

Erika Hara (+12500)

My longshot this week is Hara. She is currently ninth on Tour in total driving, 25th in GIR%, 33rd in both SG: DRIVE and SG: PUTT, 60th in SG: APP, 94th in sand saves percentage and 134th in SG: ATG. Hara brings a lot of boom-or-bust with her each week. Across the season, she’s made 13 cuts and missed nine. Of those 13 made cuts she has five top tens, seven top 15s and 11 top 25s. She placed tenth last week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She missed the cut at the LOTTE Championship but was 25th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. She’ll be playing the Pine Beach Golf Links for the first time this season.

2025 Betting Card

• Hye-Jin Choi (+2200) - T7th

• A Lim Kim (+2500) - T3rd

• Minami Katsu (+4000) - T24th

• Robyn Choi (+15000) - T16th

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