Korean Golf Association Partners with SmartScore and Naver for Official Handicap Project

Business Agreement Ceremony on the 9th
Calculation and Display of Golfer Handicap Index
Converted According to Course Difficulty and Play Style During Rounds

Joo Geon-beom, Naver Leader (from left), Seong Moon-jeong, Executive Director of KGA, and Park No-seong, Vice President of SmartScore, are posing for a commemorative photo at the business agreement ceremony.
[Photo by KGA]

The Korea Golf Association (KGA) announced on the 9th that it held a business agreement ceremony for the 'Official Handicap Project' in collaboration with SmartScore and Naver at the KGA headquarters in Paju, Gyeonggi-do.

The Official Handicap Project primarily involves calculating and displaying golfers' handicap indexes, converting them according to the difficulty of the golf course and the style of play (round types such as stroke play, match play, etc.) during actual rounds, based on the domestic handicap business rights held by the KGA.

SmartScore provides the system for handicap calculation, replacing Jin (GHIN), which has been used as the central handicap program by the KGA since 2017, and manages golfers' score input. Furthermore, as the representative technology provider from South Korea, SmartScore participates in the 'Global Handicap Interface' of the World Handicap System, overseen by The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA), supporting Korean golfers to easily and conveniently apply their handicaps anywhere overseas.

The calculated scores used for handicap purposes are also provided on Naver Sports' 'N Golf'. Through this project, Naver plans to offer objective assessments of golfers' skills and trend guidance, as well as introduce various engaging services such as golf tournament platforms and memberships.

The dissemination of handicaps is a grassroots golf expansion project that includes basic rules and etiquette golfers need to know. The KGA will expand the implementation of course rating, which forms the basis of handicaps, beyond member golf courses to include courses affiliated with golf tournaments organized by its four subordinate organizations (Elementary Federation, Middle and High School Federation, University Federation, Mid-Amateur Federation) and 17 city and provincial golf associations.

Additionally, to further activate the use of handicaps, official handicap competitions applying the World Handicap System will be operated starting this year, beginning with tournaments hosted and organized by the KGA.