The LPGA Tour will tee it up in South Korea October 30th to November 1st.  This year’s Hana Bank/Kolon Championship will be played at the SKY 72 Golf Club’s 6,466-yard Ocean Course in Incheon, South Korea.

This tournament, originally scheduled to start up in 2001 but canceled due to the 9-11 attacks, has been played every year since 2002. Past winners include Se Ri Pak, Grace Park, Suzann Pettersen, and defending champion Candie Kung. Kung won the 2008 tournament by one shot over Katherine Hull. Kung was born in Taiwan but has spent most of her life in the United States and eventually became a naturalized citizen. Kung has been winless in 2009 but did register a 2nd place finish to Eun Hee Ji at the U.S. Open.

The Hana Bank is the first LPGA tournament in three weeks. It also marks the beginning of the home stretch run for 2009. Over the next four weeks the LPGA will play tournaments in South Korea, Japan, and Mexico before finishing up with the tour championship in Houston Texas.

As with most LPGA events played outside the United States, The Hana Bank is a limited field event. Less than 80 players are teeing it up, and many of these are not surprisingly KLPGA players who don’t have LPGA playing privileges but could earn them with a win this weekend.  This has happened three times in the Hana Bank’s short history. Shi Hyun Ahn in 2003, Jee Young Lee in 2005, and Jin Joo Hong in 2006.

Some notable facts about the Hana Bank.

*- In 2007 Korean golf fans became rowdy after Sunday play was canceled and the tournament was shortened to 36 holes.

*- 2007 Champion Suzann Pettersen is the only Hana Bank Champion since 2003 to have won again on the LPGA since winning in South Korea. You could say there is a curse that goes along with winning this tournament.

Seriously, there is a great deal at stake this weekend. Both the player of the year and leading money winner titles are very much up for grabs. Ji Yai Shin leads both races but has several golfers close behind her. One of whom is Lorena Ochoa who will also be teeing it up in South Korea this week. Japan’s Ai Miyazato is skipping The Hana Bank.  Which is surprising in light of how hot Miyazato is at present and how close she is to Shin in the POY and money list races.

Other players in this week’s field include- Paula Creamer, Yani Tseng, In-Kyung Kim, Morgan Pressel, and Cristie Kerr. Michelle Wie is not in the field and I assume this locks up the Rookie of the Year race for Shin if she hasn’t clinched it already.

I’m not going to predict this week’s winner but I will throw out one name to consider. If a KLPGA player wins the Hana Bank this week, the most likely candidates would be either Sun Ju Ahn or Seo Hee Kyung.

The Constructivist at Mostly Harmless also has a preview up of the Hana Bank/Kolon Championship.