Korean golf is on the verge of regaining its reputation as ‘the best in the world’… Gold challenge for the first time in 9 years

• allforyouclick
• 0
• on Sep 15, 2023

Golf, which first became an official event in the Asian Games at the 1982 New Delhi Games, was Korea’s ‘medal garden’ for a while. Starting with the men’s team gold medal at the 1986 Seoul Games, Korea has won 13 gold medals, the most in any event.

In particular, at the 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou competitions, it won the championship in all events, including the men’s and women’s individual and team events, solidifying its position as the undisputed ‘strongest golf player in Asia’.

However, in the last two Asian Games, I swallowed my disappointment. At the 2014 Incheon Games held at home, Park Gyeol was the only player to win a gold medal in the women’s individual event, and at the most recent 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, she suffered the humiliation of no golds (2 silver, 1 bronze). As the ‘Asian golf craze’ that has been intensifying recently continues in the Asian Games, it has become difficult to boast of being ‘the best in Asia’ anymore.

At this Hangzhou tournament, Korean golf is preparing to regain its reputation. The goal is to win at least two gold medals.

Expectations are especially high for men’s golf. Until a few years ago, women’s golf, which was referred to as the ‘Taegeuk corps’, was active overseas, mainly on the LPGA Tour, but recently, male players have stood out on the world’s best stage, the PGA Tour. It represents.

Moreover, starting from this tournament, professional players will be allowed to participate, and expectations are high as Kim Si-woo (28) and Im Seong-jae (25, CJ), who play on the PGA Tour, will wear the Taegeuk symbol.

Kim Si-woo won his fourth career PGA Tour victory and also won the Sony Open this January. Seongjae Lim did not win this season, but he has won twice in his career and has consistently ranked high in the rankings, and has participated in the final round of the PGA Tour playoffs for five consecutive years.

Jo Woo-young (22), national team member for the Hangzhou Asian Games. (provided by KPGA)

The other two are amateurs Jo Woo-young (22) and Jang Yu-bin (21). Both are players who have already represented the national team, but postponed turning professional in order to participate in the Asian Games.

Therefore, it is safe to say that his skills are already ‘professional level’. This season, they frequently appeared as invited players in the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour, and both recorded one win each, gaining a reputation as ‘Ama who catches the pros.’

The men’s division is a solid entry whose goal of sweeping the individual and team events does not seem excessive at all.

In the women’s division, there are no professional players, so only three amateurs will participate. They are Kim Min-sol (17), Lim Ji-yu (18), and Yoo Hyeon-jo (18).

Hyunjo Yoo, national team member for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. (provided by KLPGT)

It is true that the weight is less than that of the men’s division featuring PGA Tour players, but they have already distinguished themselves in international amateur competitions and professional competitions as invited players from a young age.

In particular, Kim Min-sol received attention as an invited player at the LPGA Tour BMW Ladies Championship held in Korea last year when she was 16 years old, and tied for 10th place.

The fact that he passed the national team selection competition, which is called ‘piercing the needle’ in the first place, should be seen as a verification of his skills.스포츠토토

Meanwhile, the golf event of this tournament will be held at the Seoho International Golf Course for four days starting September 28th. Four players from each country will participate in the men’s division, and three players from each country will participate in the women’s division, and the individual winner will be determined through 72 holes of stroke play.

In the case of team competitions, rankings are determined by the combined scores of each country. However, the lowest score by country in each round (4th place in the men’s division, 3rd place in the women’s division) is excluded.