Mature Korean men’s and women’s professional golf are looking at the end of the first half of the year. From the beginning of June, so-called ‘big events’ are scheduled to be held one after another, drawing attention from golf fans.
The Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour is preparing for the Lotte Open (total prize money of 800 million won) at Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club. The prize money is of the general tournament level, but the winner is eligible to compete in the Lotte Championship of the LPGA Tour held by Lotte. Seong Yu-jin (23, Hanwha Q CELLS), who won the Doosan Match Play Championship on the 21st, finished runner-up after an extended bloody battle at the Lotte Championship held in Hawaii this year.
When the Lotte Open comes to an end, the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour’s best tournament, the KPGA Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won) will be held. This year, it will be held at the A-One Country Club in Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, and it is a special event that boasts tradition and authority, celebrating its 66th anniversary. KPGA held an extraordinary general meeting on the 22nd and passed this year’s budget bill, enabling it to accelerate preparations for the tournament. It is a tournament that selects KPGA champions, so it is crowded with not only Korean Tour players but also challengers who want to advance to the finals through the Monday qualifiers.
When the KPGA Championship comes to an end, the Korean Tour moves to Japan. The Hana Bank Invitational (total prize money of 1 billion won) will be held at Itsumi CC in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Since the tournament is co-sponsored with the Japan Tour, it is unfolding as a battle of pride between Korean and Japanese players. The fact that it is the first overseas Korean tour since the COVID-19 pandemic (pandemic around the world) is enough to attract fans’ attention.
The KLPGA tour moves to Yangyang, Gangwon-do, takes a breather at the Celltrion Queen’s Masters (total prize money of 1.2 billion won), and continues with the DB Group Korea Women’s Open (total prize money of 1.2 billion won), a national title event. The Korea Women’s Open is a national title competition held as a festival to select golf empresses covering pros and amateurs. Kang Chun-ja, former CEO of the Korea Women’s Professional Golf Tour (KLPGT), was named as the first winner, and it is a prestigious tournament that has produced some of the world’s best players, such as Kim Mi-hyun, Jang Jeong, Kim Young, Shin Ji-ae, and Jeon In-ji, Kim Hyo-joo, and Park Seong-hyun.
After the Korean Women’s Open,토토사이트 the men’s national title, the Kolon Korea Open, visits golf fans. The Korea Open is the last tournament of the first half of the Korean Tour. Since it started in 1958, it is a stage that boasts as much history and tradition as the KPGA Championship. The Korean Open also produced legends who showed off their Korean power on the PGA Tour, such as Choi Gyeong-ju, Yang Yong-eun, Bae Sang-moon, and Lee Gyeong-hoon. The Korean Tour holds a money feast of at least 3.5 billion won in prize money alone for three weeks from the KPGA Championship to the Kolon Korea Open.