KLPGA Crowning Round 8 Victory by 2 Strokes
Active Support from Father, CEO of Monsta Shaft
"I Will Secure Regular Tour Seed Next Year"
Former national team member Park Ye-ji smiled brightly.
On the 19th, at the Woongjin-Sabi Course of Baekje Country Club (Par 72, 6,694 yards) in Buyeo-gun, Chungnam, Park Ye-ji added 2 under par in the final second round of the KLPGA Dream (2nd division) Tour Crowning 8th event (total prize money 70 million KRW, winner's prize 10.5 million KRW) to secure a 2-stroke victory (9 under par 135). She took the lead on the first day by making 7 birdies and maintained steady play on the final day, adding 2 more birdies. This was her first win after entering the Dream Tour as a recommended player.
Park Ye-ji showed her potential by sweeping various tournaments during her amateur days. She was part of the national reserve team in 2021 and 2022 and served as a national representative in 2023. After giving up her Taegeuk mark in August last year and joining as a KLPGA associate member, she won on the Jump (3rd division) Tour in September and then became a full KLPGA member. She ranked 34th in last year's KLPGA 2024 regular tour seed ranking and is playing as a rookie on this year's KLPGA Tour. Currently, she is 85th in the prize money rankings with 39,685,000 KRW.
Park Ye-ji receives active support from her father. Her father is Park Jong-tae, CEO of Monsta & Psycho Golf. Monsta shafts are a domestic shaft brand produced in Korea alongside Doominah’s Autoflex. It is called the "Herm?s of the shaft industry." Each shaft produced at the Masan factory costs 1.1 million KRW. It is a premium shaft that satisfies both directionality and distance simultaneously. The company name was chosen with her daughter in mind. "Monsta" is short for "Monday Star," meaning that after her daughter wins on Sunday, she will be a star on Monday.
Monsta shafts are very popular domestically. Starting with a 10% usage rate on the KLPGA Tour in 2020, it has now reached about 30%. Players such as Lim Hee-jung, Jung Yoon-ji, Jeon Ye-seong, and Choi Hye-jin have reached the top using Monsta shafts. The usage rate among national team players is 50%. Yu Hyun-jo and Lim Ji-yoo, who won the team silver medal at last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, also use Monsta shafts.
Right after her victory, Park Ye-ji said in an interview, "I really wanted to do well this season, but things didn’t go as planned, so I was disappointed in myself." She added, "During this tournament, I was able to play the way I wanted and ended up winning, which gave me confidence for the rest of the season." She also expressed gratitude, saying, "I am thankful to Coach Kim Guk-hwan for all the help and to my family for their unwavering support and encouragement."
With this win, Park Ye-ji secured her Dream Tour seed rights through the 2025 season. She said, "Since my results on the regular tour this year were not good, I planned to play both the regular and Dream Tours in the second half to secure my seed rights for next year’s regular tour." She added, "I was lucky to be recommended to participate in this tournament, and securing the Dream Tour seed rights makes it even more meaningful." She continued, "Now that I have secured the Dream Tour seed rights, I plan to participate in many Dream Tour events for the rest of the season. I want to achieve good results in the second half and definitely secure my seed rights for next year’s regular tour."
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