KPGA Focuses on Expanding Youth Golf Base

Timefolio Winners Match Play and HONORS K Charity Match Held
Youth Training Fee Support Program Also Planned

The Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) is focusing on expanding the youth golf base this season. Following last year, it will host events such as the 'Timefolio Winners Match Play' and the ‘HONORS K Charity Match,’ and plans to establish a training expense support program for aspiring young golfers.

According to KPGA on the 6th, the Timefolio Winners Match Play, which debuted last year, will proceed smoothly this season as well. The Timefolio Winners Match Play is a tournament where one KPGA Korean Tour player teams up with one male player from the Korea Elementary School Golf Federation. The event has been praised as the best mentor-mentee program between tour players and young golf hopefuls, providing youth players with opportunities to showcase their skills.

Heo In-hoe (left) and Jang Won-young, the winning team of the 2022 Timefolio Winners Match Play
[Photo by KPGA]

This season’s Timefolio Winners Match Play will be held at Blackstone Jeju from the 28th to 29th. The tournament format remains the same as last year, with one KPGA Korean Tour player and one elementary federation player forming a two-person team competing in a scramble format (each player tees off, and the team plays the next shot from the better ball position). Sixteen teams (32 players) will participate in an 18-hole team match play tournament (round of 16 to finals) to determine the champion. The total prize money is approximately 150 million KRW.

The HONORS K Charity Match will also continue. This event features rounds played together by young golf hopefuls affiliated with the K.J. Choi Foundation and KPGA Korean Tour players. THE CLUB HONORS K, the organizer of the event, also awards scholarships to the youth players participating in the tournament.

Additionally, KPGA plans to actively promote the expansion of the junior base through sports clubs (golf). After organizing youth sports clubs using junior golf equipment suited to each growth stage, KPGA will hold nationwide junior tournaments and further organize regular inter-club league matches. To support this, KPGA will conduct instructor training courses aimed at developing youth coaching skills for its members. A training expense support program for young golf hopefuls is also currently being prepared.