Hongtaek Kim is a 12-time winner of screen golf in Korea
Those of you who have tried your hand at playing golf indoors, hitting balls into a movie screen, may not consider that to be good enough training for your weekend game.
And yet, 30-year-old Hongtaek Kim of South Korea, who is known in his home country for his 12 Screen golf pro titles, proved that his skill is equally good in real life as he carded rounds of 69-65-71-69 and then won on the first hole of a sudden death playoff at the US$ 950,000 GS Caltex Maekyung Open.
Joked 30-year-old Kim: “There was a misunderstanding that I was only good at simulator golf. I solved the misunderstanding today.
“I think simulator golf has actually been very helpful. Competing in championships in simulator golf has helped relieve tension.”
He earned a cheque for US$221,231 for what is his first victory on the Asian Tour and third on the Korean PGA Tour;
As per a report published by The Korea Economic Daily in Sep. 2023, the Screen golf market in Korea is a serious business. It has shown steady increase in interest from the population and also in sales numbers from US$ 1.09 bn in 2020 to US$ 1.31 bn in 2021 and US$ 1.53 bn in 2022.
The main reasons being, COVID-19 and rising green fees, which shot up due to surging demand for golf, demand for playing golf on a course shifted to that for screen golf.
A Billion dollar golf industry is based on screen golf in a country with a population of just 51.63 million. As per Leisure Industry Yearbook 2022, the number of golfers in Korea stood at 5.6 million, almost 10% of the total population in the country.
Photo – Asian Tour