The 39th Shinhan Donghae Open (total prize money of 1.4 billion won) will be held at Incheon Club 72 (Par 72 – 7,204 yards) starting on 7 July.The tournament is co-organised by three tours – the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) and the Asian Tour – and this year’s field includes 138 players from 17 countries.The oldest single-sponsored professional tournament in Korea was founded in 1981 by Korean-Japanese golf enthusiasts to develop golf in Korea, foster player development and promote sports exchanges between Korea and Japan.Since 2019, the tournament has been co-organised by the Korea, Japan and Asia tours, and in 2022, the tournament will be held in Japan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Shinhan Financial Group.This is the first time in four years since 2019 that the Shinhan Donghae Open has been held in Korea with a gallery entry.Last year’s tournament was won by Kazuki Higa (JPN), so this year’s event is expected to be a battle of pride between the top ranked players from Korea and Japan.South Korea will be represented by target points leader Lee Jae-kyung, as well as last week’s LX Championship winner Kim Biao, recent JGTO winner Song Young-han and US PGA Tour player Kim Sung-hyun.Veterans such as Park Sang-hyun, Kang Kyung-nam, Kim Kyung-tae and Kim Hyung-sung, as well as amateurs Jo Woo-young and Jang Yubin, who represented Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games, are also in contention.Cho and Jang have been in form this year on the KPGA Korean Tour, winning one tournament apiece, and are favourites to win gold at the Asian Games.For Japan, ‘defending champion’ Higa will miss the tournament due to his commitment to the DP World Tour, but the likes of Ryo Ishikawa, who has played on the PGA Tour, and Keita Nakajima, second on the JGTO money list this season, will also be in contention.Fans will also be particularly interested in the ’58-shot battle’ between Ishikawa, who shot 58 in 2010, and Kim Sung-hyun, who shot 58 in 2021, and the ‘distance battle’ between long-hitters Chung Chan-min and Kawamoto Riki, representing Korea and Japan.Nakajima will be eager to get back on track after finishing runner-up to Yang Ji-ho in the Hana Bank Invitational, co-hosted by the KPGA Korean Tour and JGTO, in Japan in June.There are plenty of hidden gems on the Asian Tour.The 2019 Shinhan Donghae Open champion J.B. Kruger (South Africa) will be in action, as well as three-time Asian Tour winners Miguel Tabuena (Philippines), Sadom Wakkanjana (Thailand), Daichi Ko (Hong Kong), Gaganjit Bhullar (India) and Siddhiker Rahman (Bangladesh).The Korean Express’ Chan Ho Park, who holds the record for the most wins by an Asian player in Major League Baseball (124), will also be featured.Park competed in the Woori Financial Championship and SK Telecom Open last year, but failed to make the cut.On the eve of the tournament, Park will join celebrities and players from Shinhan Financial Group at the Shinhan Donghae Open Charity Challenge to collect donations for the foundation, which will be donated to the Park Chan-ho Scholarship Foundation.The tournament venue, Club 72, reopened in April this year after taking over the management of the former Sky 72, and this will be the first professional tournament under 스포츠토토 the new name.