USGTF Helps Fuel Golf Growth in Korea… And Elsewhere
Twenty-six years ago, a golfer named Ok-Hee Ku won the Standard Register Turquoise Classic, becoming the first Korean player to win on the LPGA Tour. Today, there are over 40 players on that tour, with more Korean men gaining their major tour cards around the world. Yes, Korea is a major player in the world of professional golf. Coinciding with the growth of the game in Korea was the emergence of the USGTF as the main governing teaching body of golf. How did this come about?
USGTF certification classes always were wellattended by Korean participants who either lived in Korea or resided in the USA. Sensing that an untapped market for golf teachers in Korea existed, USGTF member Sammy Oh approached USGTFpresident Geoff Bryant in the mid-1990s about holding certification courses in Korea. As the World Golf Teachers Federation had been created in 1993 just a few years prior, Bryant saw the potential in the Korean market.
Oh scheduled a class in Korea in 1996, bringing over the USGTF examining team from the US. The Americans weren’t prepared for what awaited them – over 200 participants in one class! Using interpreters, the examining team was able to get its lessons across, and today USGTF-Korea is the second-largest WGTF organization.
Shortly thereafter in 1998, Se Re Pak won the US Women’s Open while a nation across the Pacific watched in the early morning hours. It wasn’t long before thousands of Korean girls took to the links in an effort to be like Se Re. Many of these girls had fathers who attended USGTF-Korea training classes so they could teach their daughters the proper fundamentals. As a result, USGTF-Korea has played a major role in the development of professional players on the international stage.
USGTF-Korea has also played a huge role in the growth of the popularity of the game in that country in general. Almost 200 courses were built from 2007 to today, and currently there are over 400 courses in operation. In addition, there are over 100 driving ranges, where the majority of golfers spend their time. USGTF-Korea professionals can be found at most of these facilities.
The professional game has an interesting anomaly: Korean men haven’t arrived in as prolific of numbers as have the women, but there are two reasons for this. First, men in Korea have a compulsory twoyear military commitment. Second, athletics for men in Korea is still seen as something of a fallback for those who do not or cannot succeed in business or academics.
Girls face no such obstacles. In fact, it’s common for girls who show promise in golf to quit school, hook up with an instructor, and practice virtually all day. The girls are still educated, but by private tutors. This work ethic has made its presence known on the LPGA Tour, where Korean players are generally the first to arrive at the driving range in the morning and the last to leave in the evening.
Other countries have seen an impact from the USGTF’s existence. China, which recently held the 11th biennial World Golf Teachers Cup, has seen a tremendous surge in the growth of the game. Chinese players are becoming more prominent on the international stage, and approximately 400,000 players regularly play. That number is projected by some estimates to reach as many as 20 million by the year 2020. New courses are opening virtually every week, and the demand for qualified teaching professionals has never been greater.
India is another highly-populated country where the game is starting to take off. Indian golfer S.S.P. Chowrasia has won twice on the European Tour, and Arjun Atwal won a few years ago on the American tour. Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapur are other prominent golfers from India who have had their impact on the international scene.
The WGTF has had a presence in India for over a decade, and Bhupesh Aima, along with Amit Saran, are planning to take the Indian Golf Teachers Federation to the next level. Right now, there are over 200 courses and roughly 50,000 players, but both of those figures are expected to rise in the coming years.
In countries where golf has long been established, the game is regaining its popularity after the economic slowdown of the past several years. In the United States and Europe, the number of rounds played is up from a several-year decline. Australia has over 1,500 courses, and the Australian Golf Teachers Federation continues to be an active influence in the Land Down Under. Canadian golf overall continues to rebound, as several younger players have qualified to play on the major tours worldwide. The CGTF has been in existence since 1994, and that organization has seen continued, sustained growth as its members have found success in the golf teaching industry. USGTF and WGTF members continue to teach and promote the game worldwide, and serve as ambassadors to our great sport.
From the Caribbean islands, all throughout Asia, Europe, and North and South America, golf continues its worldwide growth, and countries that previously were never thought of as hotbeds of the game are finding growing interest. The USGTF and WGTF will continue to play a prominent role in this evolution.
