The 2025 Fubon Senior Open, recognized as Taiwan’s largest and longest-running professional senior golf tournament, will begin on October 29 at the Taiwan Golf & Country Club. This year’s prize fund has increased to NT$6.8 million, with NT$6 million allocated for regular seniors and NT$800,000 for super seniors. The tournament has attracted the top 30 players from the Taiwan Senior Professional Golf Association’s (TSPGA) order of merit for 2024, along with 30 international competitors from 12 countries.
Defending champion Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand is among the favorites. Sriroj won last year by six shots and comes into this year’s event after winning the 2025 Japan Senior Open in September and the Fancl Classic last week. These victories have moved him to second place on the Japan Senior PGA Tour’s order of merit. His son, Boss, will serve as his caddie this year, which is seen as an advantage given their recent success together.
Sriroj faces strong competition from his compatriot Prayad Marksaeng, who finished second last year and has also secured two wins in Japan this season, including the 2025 Japan Senior PGA Championship. Marksaeng is currently third on the Japanese order of merit and has previous experience winning at TGCC as a regular PGA player.
Local favorites include Lu Wen-teh, a three-time Fubon Senior Open champion who expressed confidence in his current form but noted that “golf is a strange sport because you do not necessarily win even if you play well.” Lu Chien-soon, who has not won yet this year but finished second in three TSPGA tournaments, commented on the forecasted rainy weather: “the rain makes the golf course play longer and it’s tougher for the ball to stop on the greens. Therefore, he will try to adopt a more conservative approach, and ‘the key is to avoid bogeys.’”
The field consists of 124 players, including six invited amateurs. Other notable international participants are Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand (2023 champion), Kim Jong-duck of Korea (2014 winner), and Japan’s Takashi Kanemoto.
Despite persistent drizzle during the pro-am event on October 28, participants used the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the course. The main tournament will start with regular seniors’ competition. Sriroj will tee off at 7:10 am alongside Tsai Chi-huang, Lin Chie-hsiang, and Chen Chia-hsuan. Lu Wen-teh will start at 7:30 am with Marksaeng, Zhang Lian-wei of China, and Lin Keng-chi of Taiwan.
After two rounds (36 holes) of stroke play, the top 60 players (including ties) will advance to the finals on October 31. Super seniors aged 65 or older will compete over two rounds without a cut. Admission is free, and fans can follow live coverage via Fubon’s official YouTube channel at https://pse.is/6kkeze or updates through the Taiwan Senior Professional Golf Association Facebook page at https://pse.is/6kkg9z.
“golf is a strange sport because you do not necessarily win even if you play well,” said Lu Wen-teh.
“the rain makes the golf course play longer and it’s tougher for the ball to stop on the greens. Therefore, he will try to adopt a more conservative approach, and ‘the key is to avoid bogeys,’” said Lu Chien-soon.