Gangnam-gu Men 93 Strokes, Yangcheon-gu Women 96.9 Strokes
Four of the Top 5 Economically Strong Districts Enter ‘Top 5’
Average Strokes: Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, Yangcheon-gu Rank 1st to 3rd
‘Gangnam’ and ‘Yangcheon’ are the trends.
This is about the skill levels of golfers residing in Seoul. For men, Gangnam-gu, and for women, Yangcheon-gu were found to have the lowest average golf scores. The golf platform company SmartScore recently analyzed and released the average scores of about 510,000 members living in Seoul over their last 9 rounds. Only cases where a full 18-hole round was completed were counted.
For men, Gangnam-gu ranked 1st (93 strokes), Seocho-gu 2nd (93.2 strokes), Yangcheon-gu 3rd (93.8 strokes), Songpa-gu 4th (94 strokes), and Jongno-gu 5th (94.1 strokes). The district with the highest average score was Jungnang-gu (96.8 strokes). This statistic shows a significant correlation between golf skill and income level. Among the top 5 economically affluent districts, 4 were included in the ‘top 5’ golf score rankings. The average score rankings of these 4 districts, except Yangcheon-gu, matched the average worker salary rankings by Seoul district.
According to the 2022 year-end tax settlement report on earned income by district based on address from the National Tax Statistics Portal (TASIS), Gangnam-gu ranked 1st in economic power based on average annual worker salary (84.19 million KRW). Seocho-gu was 2nd (84.01 million KRW), Yongsan-gu 3rd (76.4 million KRW), Songpa-gu 4th (58.28 million KRW), and Jongno-gu 5th (55.23 million KRW). It is also evaluated to have a correlation with housing prices. The so-called Gangnam 3 districts (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) residents showed top-tier golf skills.
Golf has become a popular sport in Korea, with the population exceeding 5.25 million and the number of indoor golf practice ranges increasing to about 8,400. However, to achieve a high level of golf skill, financial resources are necessary. Economic power is needed to support consistent rounds, regular lessons, and equipment purchases. This explains why districts with higher economic power have better golf skills.
The results for women are interestingly different from men. Yangcheon-gu (96.9 strokes) and Dobong-gu (97.1 strokes) took 1st and 2nd place. Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu (both 97.2 strokes), and Nowon-gu (97.3 strokes) followed. A woman living in Yangcheon-gu said, "When searching for women's golf clubs on secondhand sales sites, many products are posted from Mok-dong in Yangcheon-gu," adding, "It seems golf is very popular there."
Gangnam-gu recorded the lowest average score among members at 94.3 strokes. Following Gangnam-gu were Seocho-gu (94.4 strokes), Yangcheon-gu (94.6 strokes), Songpa-gu (95.0 strokes), and Jongno-gu (95.1 strokes). Gangnam-gu members also showed outstanding golf skills across age groups in average scores. They ranked 1st in their 30s (101.6 strokes), 40s (97.5 strokes), 50s (92.2 strokes), and 60s (88.9 strokes). Yangcheon-gu ranked 1st in the 20s age group (99.5 strokes), and Geumcheon-gu ranked 1st in the 70s age group (88.3 strokes).
Gangnam-gu members also ranked ‘number 1’ in the number of rounds played. Last year, the average number of score entries per person was highest in Gangnam-gu (9.2 times), followed by Seocho-gu (9.1 times), Songpa-gu (8.5 times), Yongsan-gu (8.3 times), and Yangcheon-gu (8.1 times). Among the five districts with the lowest average scores, four except Jongno-gu were also included in the ‘top 5’ districts for score entry frequency. Considering that some rounds may not have score entries, it is possible to analyze that the frequency of rounds correlates with golf skill.
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