Koo Ja-chul, KPGA President: "From Quantitative Growth to Qualitative Advancement"

Expressed Intent to Seek Reappointment at Press Conference
Term Expires This Year, Aiming to Grow Korean Tour to Largest Scale
"Promoting Youth Development, Tour Qualifiers, and Expanding Lessons"

Gu Jacheol, chairman of the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA), expressed his intention to seek reappointment, stating that he wants to focus on "strengthening the foundation" beyond the quantitative growth of the association that he has prioritized during his tenure.

Koo Ja-chul, Chairman of the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA), is explaining current issues at a press conference held on the 14th.
[Photo by KPGA]

On the 14th, Chairman Gu held a press conference at a restaurant near Gwanghwamun in Jongno-gu, Seoul, saying, "I have focused on quantitative growth to revive the KPGA, which was in a difficult situation," and added, "Now that the framework is somewhat established, if given the opportunity, I want to envision a bigger picture for the members."

Specifically, he presented his ambition to create a blueprint for the overall development of KPGA, not limited to the tour, including youth development, expansion of qualifying tournaments, and strengthening of lesson programs.

He took office as the 18th KPGA chairman in January 2020, and his four-year term ends at the end of this year. Since Chairman Gu's appointment, the association's total prize money and number of tournaments have significantly increased. This year, the Korean Tour is scheduled to be held with a record scale of 25 tournaments and total prize money exceeding 25 billion KRW. Except for 2020, which was severely impacted by COVID-19, these figures have rapidly increased during Chairman Gu's tenure. In 2021, there were 17 tournaments with total prize money of 15.6 billion KRW, and last year, 21 tournaments with 20.3 billion KRW were held.

KPGA has also designated Innocean and SBS Media Net as preferred negotiation partners and is currently negotiating new broadcasting rights. KPGA estimates the value of the new broadcasting rights to be over 6 billion KRW annually, totaling more than 30 billion KRW over five years. Kim Byungjun, CEO of the Korea Professional Golf Tour (KGT), explained, "The value of the new broadcasting rights contract is financially calculated based on tournament hosting and resale revenues."

To create opportunities for domestic players to enter the U.S. PGA Tour through the Korean Tour and to strengthen global competitiveness, KPGA plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour by the end of this month.

Chairman Gu, who is also the chairman of Yesco Holdings, is the third businessman to lead KPGA, following the late Heo Jeonggu, the first chairman, and Park Samgu, the 12th and 13th chairman. Since taking office, he has sought corporate sponsors for tournaments and showed great dedication, including personally funding the creation of new tournaments in 2020 when seven tournaments were canceled due to COVID-19.

Ultimately, his wish is to strengthen the competitiveness of men's golf in Korea and to build "brand power." Chairman Gu emphasized, "The KPGA Tour has so far relied solely on OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) through title sponsors," adding, "Although it won't be easy immediately, my dream is to create a PB (private brand) by highlighting differentiated appeal and strengths."