SINGAPORE – Jang Ha-na does not remember much from her days as a junior golfer, but one particular training routine remains etched in her memory.
Whenever there was a traffic jam on the highway, her parents would find a rest stop and she would work out on a skipping rope for an hour or two while waiting for the congestion to ease.
For South Korea’s aspiring golfers, the hard work starts from a young age. Jang, who has five LPGA titles and 15 Korea LPGA (KLPGA) wins, noted how her training regimen has not changed much from her early days.
Wake up at 7am, start playing golf at 9am, before ending her day at 9 or 10pm.
“It’s all day… that’s why I didn’t enjoy it,” said the 31-year-old on the sidelines of the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open in Singapore from March 7 to 10.
“But I think that’s why the best golfers are from Korea.”
Such is South Korea’s dominance in women’s golf that it has produced five world No. 1s, more than any other country. The United States is second on the list, with four golfers who have ascended to the top of the world rankings.
Nineteen have won Majors since Pak Se-ri became the first from the country to do so at the 1998 US Women’s Open – that number is matched only by the US in the same period.
Kim Pyung-ki, president and chief executive of South Korean public relations company Prain Global, believes that his country’s success in golf comes from exposure to high-intensity competition from a junior level.
Kim was previously the chief executive of its sport division Prain Sportizen, which manages players like KLPGA career money list leader Jang and Lee Jung-min, a 10-time winner on the Tour.
The success of the golfers is a source of inspiration for many back home, with many girls picking up golf when they are 10 or 11.
There are about 800 female elite golfers at the junior level (elementary to high school) in the country.
Kim said: “Of course, it’s very difficult to train professionally at such a young age, but their expectations are high, and many athletes have achieved great success before them.
“So I think they are more motivated to overcome all difficulties, and the presence of competitors their age also motivates them.”
When she was in elementary school, it was common for Park Min-ji, who has 18 KLPGA titles, and her peers to wake up at 2.30am to go to tournaments.
This was because many of the age-group competitions were about a two-hour journey from Seoul.
Some, like KLPGA veteran Kim So-yi, would train in South-east Asia during the winter months.
But, even with all these sacrifices and efforts, success is not guaranteed. Competition on the domestic circuit is stiff, but it prepares the country’s golfers for the international stage.
Many of their top golfers, including the retired Pak, have come through the domestic circuit, which has three main stages.
The first is the Jump Tour, which features both professional and amateur golfers, followed by the Dream Tour for pros. The top earners from the latter are then offered membership in the top-tier KLPGA.
However, there is also an uglier side to this.
Jang said: “Playing golf as a hobby, I really enjoyed it but I don’t enjoy it so much as my job.
“Travelling to different countries or areas is really fun but playing golf is not really. It’s a very lonely sport, there’s a lot of practising so it’s a bit boring.”
There is also the pressure of being in the public eye all the time as Park, 25, noted that “we have to act a little bit more with manners and class because everyone pays attention”.
While the international appeal of golf has attracted many companies in Korea to invest in the sport, the pressure to win immediately is huge.
So-yi said: “A lot of people have been preparing very early on from a junior level to become pro.
“As a female player, if you don’t make it in your early 20s, the number of sponsors, support and attention will be a bit lesser as well. So the amount of pressure comes from that to make it earlier on.”
