LPGA & Asian Women

[BDLz]

Why so many more women than men?

I've always wondered why the Asian women are such a dominant force on the LPGA Tour and why so many more women from over there make it on the big tour than men. Do more of the men stay and play the Asian tours, or is there some other reason that I'm not seeing?

BDLz

[JDorfler]

I asked a guy named James this question at Bravo Golf in Alabang Town Center. He said, "Look how big you are, look how big I am. I can't hit the ball as far as you can. Look at how the flexes are different between a Japanese X Flex and an American X Flex. Look at your girlfriend. She's about the same size as most of the girls on tour. The LPGA's courses are shorter."

 

I'm not completely sure how accurate this statement is. There's just a lot of tours here in Asia. You have the Asia Tour, Japanese Tour, Korean Tour, Australian Tour, so on and so forth. With the amount of quality golfers here, I'm surprised there aren't more Asians on the PGA Tour, but maybe they just don't want to be, and prefer a tour closer to home.

[mrb]

Good question BDLz. I frequently watch the LPGA when it's on TV so that my daughters can see, and I have often wondered the same thing.

 

Like JDorfler, I tend to think there must be more availability for some reason to play, as well as more of a willingness to play over here in the states.

 

JD, you mention all those tours, are those mens tours? Are there any women's tours in that area, besides the LET that might/might not even venture into that area of the world?

[JDorfler]

Those are just a few of the men's tours I know of in Asia. I don't know of any women's tours that are their equivalents. I wish I did, I wouldn't mind showing up to watch.

[mrb]

Then that is most likely the answer to the OP's question then. The men stay in Asia because there's so many playing opportunities...the girls come here becuase that's where the tour is.

[strataboy]

The majority of asian LPGA players come from S. Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. I think the main reason there aren't more asians on the mens tour is that in S. Korea and Taiwan, a lot of asian countries for that fact, have a manditory military service for male citizens. I am sure that S. Korea and Taiwan have this manditory military service while Japan does not. This could explain why there are more Japanese men on the PGA tour than Korean or Taiwanese men.

[tonster]

the talent pool is far greater in the mens tour than the womens tour. in the womens game you have teenagers winning majors, tournaments, etc. couple that with a culture that extremely pushes children to succeed and you have tons of asian women playing in the lpga. you see the same attempts in the mens game, but only few actually push through because the talent pool is so much greater. heck, amateur and collegiate success usually translates into success in the lpga, but is seldom seen in the pga.

[DemolitionMan]

Not to be offensive, there are exceptions to any 'rule', but by and large I do think it is a strength/distance issue. You do not have to be long off the tee to compete on the LPGA. The advancement of technology in golf clubs is the single biggest factor that many smaller Asian women can be on the LPGA. Twenty years ago they could not produce the distance off the tee to be competitive. Basically, technology has been much more of an enabler for Asian women to compete on the LPGA than it has for Asian men to compete on the PGA.

 

It is changing for the men....but very slowly.

[oo1oo]

The majority of asian LPGA players come from S. Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. I think the main reason there aren't more asians on the mens tour is that in S. Korea and Taiwan, a lot of asian countries for that fact, have a manditory military service for male citizens. I am sure that S. Korea and Taiwan have this manditory military service while Japan does not. This could explain why there are more Japanese men on the PGA tour than Korean or Taiwanese men.

i agree. S.Korean men have a manditory military service for 3 years. While guys are practicing everyday and take a 3 year break, it'll put them back to where they couldn't even compete. IMO of course

[MrParr1Noid]

The majority of asian LPGA players come from S. Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. I think the main reason there aren't more asians on the mens tour is that in S. Korea and Taiwan, a lot of asian countries for that fact, have a manditory military service for male citizens. I am sure that S. Korea and Taiwan have this manditory military service while Japan does not. This could explain why there are more Japanese men on the PGA tour than Korean or Taiwanese men.

i agree. S.Korean men have a manditory military service for 3 years. While guys are practicing everyday and take a 3 year break, it'll put them back to where they couldn't even compete. IMO of course

 

Last I knew, it was 30 months, and not 3 years of service, at least it was back when I was in the Army. I stand to be corrected though.

[nevinem]

In general Men's sports generate more money and attention than women's sports, is it possible the only way to make kind of cash they feel they deserve and to attract the proper sponsors they feel they need to be on the biggest stage as opposed to the men who may have a few more stages to play on ? or it could simply be what you guys were saying about strength issue in men compared to the women, just throwing ideas out there.

 

 

EDIT: adding I have no clue what the purses look like on the other Ladies' tours

[BraveAnthony]

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

[BankerGolfer]

+1 (and i'm not korean)

 

 

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

[stuben]

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents

.

 

Is Papa Earls "pushiness" overrated with regards to Tiger?

[BraveAnthony]

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents

.

 

Is Papa Earls "pushiness" overrated with regards to Tiger?

 

Way overrated, IMHO. Se Ri Pak's father, for example, made her hit 3000 balls a day. He once dropped her off in a graveyard at night and left her there for hours when she's only 14 so she could become mentally stronger. And he didn't stop. Earl Woods stopped "pushing" when Tiger was all grown up. Se Ri Pak's father kept doing it way after she turned pro and even told her to stop dating a guy. Se Ri once told the media that it had gotten to the point where she didn't want to play golf at all. It was the beginning of her long slump from which she hasn't been able to get out even to this date. Now they're re-united but had he not done that, Se Ri could've won a couple of more majors, IMO.

Anthony Kim's father wasn't very different. He would tell him not to come home if he loses to Kevin Na when they were juniors. Think Sean O'Hair's father. Another example would be Michelle Wie's parents. They're pushing in a different way, even worse than Se Ri's. They're annoying the hell out of her. Good thing about Anthony Kim was that he stepped up and stood against his father, which is a rarity in asian culture. Anthony could do it because he's just another american kid who grew up in american culture and education system that taught him how to stand up for himself and to say enough is enough. Michelle Wie is still a mystery to me though. Maybe when she grows up a little more.

 

NOTE: these are just my own observations and there are korean parents who are not "pushy". I just read an article that Inbee Park's parents are not.

[daughterscameron]

BraveAnthony--- Very well stated. I wasn't sure of the

reasoning for the women's sucess, but I suspected something

like that. Nice job! :huh:

[mantan]

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

 

Great post!!!

 

You have to think the LPGA mixed feelings. One one hand a deeper pool of more talented players definitely improves the the quality of the golf. The flip side is the perception that many of the Asian players have very reserved personalities which are harder to market. Just like in Men's golf, great play will attract the hard core fan - but the casual fan wants characters and personalities to identify with and cheer/for against.

 

Even a phenomenal talent like Annika took time to be appreciated because she was so shy. Add to the issue the langaue barrier and it's a tough sell. It sounds like the LPGA has done a lot since Jan Stephenson shoved her golf shoe in her mouth a few years ago. And it sounds like the players are committed to making the marketing end work as well.

[ghodges]

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

 

Had to echo the comments of others...outstanding and insightful post!

[BankerGolfer]

+1. Well stated.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents

.

 

Is Papa Earls "pushiness" overrated with regards to Tiger?

 

Way overrated, IMHO. Se Ri Pak's father, for example, made her hit 3000 balls a day. He once dropped her off in a graveyard at night and left her there for hours when she's only 14 so she could become mentally stronger. And he didn't stop. Earl Woods stopped "pushing" when Tiger was all grown up. Se Ri Pak's father kept doing it way after she turned pro and even told her to stop dating a guy. Se Ri once told the media that it had gotten to the point where she didn't want to play golf at all. It was the beginning of her long slump from which she hasn't been able to get out even to this date. Now they're re-united but had he not done that, Se Ri could've won a couple of more majors, IMO.

Anthony Kim's father wasn't very different. He would tell him not to come home if he loses to Kevin Na when they were juniors. Think Sean O'Hair's father. Another example would be Michelle Wie's parents. They're pushing in a different way, even worse than Se Ri's. They're annoying the hell out of her. Good thing about Anthony Kim was that he stepped up and stood against his father, which is a rarity in asian culture. Anthony could do it because he's just another american kid who grew up in american culture and education system that taught him how to stand up for himself and to say enough is enough. Michelle Wie is still a mystery to me though. Maybe when she grows up a little more.

 

NOTE: these are just my own observations and there are korean parents who are not "pushy". I just read an article that Inbee Park's parents are not.

[Bee-Man]

It's all about the money folks....and...there are schools of young Korean women playing in Thailand during there winter...on the back of family pressure just like brave Anthony said.....and they are working there Word not allowede$ off practising up to 6 hours a day. Now having said that, more than a few want there own life and this is one way of not breaking cultural ranks....

 

The LPGA is floundering with the influx of foreign golfers and the lack of a dominant, visually appealing local star....if only Natalie could win!!!

 

Purely from a sponsorship point of view - it ain't gonna do your product/company any good to have a non English speaking, near unknown, unmarketable newbie winning your tournament. No commercial mileage at all....

 

Jan Stephenson said it all those years ago......

[Kalapani Way]

I don't necessarily disagree with what you have written for the present. But I think companies or organizations with a long term growth goal might view the enormous populations in Asia, particularly China and India as fertile ground for future golf stars and commercial sucesses stories. It was only 20 years ago that you couldn't even find hot water in Qindao China; they cleaned the plates, cups and chop sticks by dipping in cold soapy water and then wiping them down!! And that was in the nicer restaurants in town. Look how far and fast things have come.

 

I think the smart money is positioning in Korea, China, Thailand and Indonesia for the next source of women's golf talent. Simply my frank opinion. Enjoy the game please!

 

PS. I admit to having had a bit of tutoring in grammar and spelling of this note from my Sensei, but the content is mine!!

 

Ciao "Wan"

[sandy]

Great post and an obvious reason why Asian countries kick our kid's rearends in math etc. Korean parents encouragement of education as a more reasonable end toward success is something to be admired. I can't believe how many kids I know really think they are going to be pro athletes and earn a living that way.

[PurePursuit]

Thank you BraveAnthony, excellent posts!

[BankerGolfer]

Great post and an obvious reason why Asian countries kick our kid's rearends in math etc. Korean parents encouragement of education as a more reasonable end toward success is something to be admired. I can't believe how many kids I know really think they are going to be pro athletes and earn a living that way.

 

Agreed. Americans spend way too much time worrying about what golf equipment to use (club ho's) and not enough time practicing and learning to play.

 

Tiger is the exception. Still has the same putter after 7+ years....

[Tha_Bounce]

Purely from a sponsorship point of view - it ain't gonna do your product/company any good to have a non English speaking, near unknown, unmarketable newbie winning your tournament. No commercial mileage at all...

 

It depends on who you are marketing to. If you are marketing to the US customers, of course no one would know about them aside from the hard core fans. However if you are opening up a new market in countries such as Korea and China, you have HUGE market credit if you get a winner from the same country.

[Calif_Mulligan]

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

 

 

A question.... Is it also true that there is a different mindset in terms of practicing in the past? More time is spent on the driving range perfecting the driver...and less on short game and iron play? More on 'hitting balls' than on emphasing ball striking and scoring. Many can hit it a mile with the driver...but no other clubs.

[Viking Golfer]

I'm Korean and spend half of the year in Korea and the other half in the U.S. so I've experienced golfing trends and culture in both countries.

In Korea, there aren't many men playing professional golf compared to women. Korean parents discourage male children from playing golf, or any sport for that matter. They push them to study hard and become successful doctors, lawyers, and etc.

One of the reasons is that they believe making a living out of playing sports is much more difficult than getting a degree and working 8 to 5 jobs. Unlike the U.S. where colleges and employers see their propective students and employees' all-american experience as strengths, Korean counterparts don't consider this as strengths. In fact, they see it as weakness as they believe the person lacks intelligence thus played sports. In Korean schools, you can't study and play sports because competition to get into college is so fierce that high school students usually spend 8am to 2am memorizing math equations and writing essays. So those who play sports in schools are the ones who only play sports either because their parents gave up on their children's ability to get into college based on academic merits or just too poor to pay for private tutoring. (90% of korean students from elementary school to high school regularly receive private/group tutoring even during school vacations.) K.J. Choi, for example, was born into a poor farmer's family in countryside whose access to high quality education was limited. Young students like him, unless they show academic brilliance at very early age, would end up playing baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and etc. Golf isn't very popular among kids so the baseball teams would get most of the talented young athletes, then soccer, then so on and so forth. Golf would be at the bottom of the list. In addition, there aren't many schools with golf teams to begin with. There were less than 10 high schools with golf teams in the entire nation 15 years ago and I can't imagine there would be more today.

 

Unlike boys, girls tend to get less pressure from their parents in terms of academic performance. There are still a lot of traditional families who believe women must be good housewives. They want them to go to good colleges only to increase the probability of getting married to successful men. Majority of women playing sports still come from poor families just like the men. There are same limited number of schools with golf team. Then why there are more women golfers than men? It's because korean women golfers are not from poor families. The whole thing started with Se Ri Pak, whose come from behind win on the U.S. Open in 1998 had emotional impact to the entire nation that was suffering from the '96 asian financial crisis. Rich and middle class families started spending money on their girls (not boys) who showed talent in golf. Since there aren't many schools or coaches, they would enroll their kids in golf schools in Florida and other parts of the US. That's why you see so many good players in ages 15 ~ 25 who began golf right after Se Ri Pak's win.

 

I believe K.J.'s success in PGA tour will have similar effect. Right after K.J.'s first win in the US, many young boys picked up the sport and are practicing hard. And unlike K.J., these young boys are from well off families so they will benefit from good coaching as well. Also since they're so used to studying math and science 16 hours a day, practicing golf 10 hrs a day is so much easy. Just look at how many Korean international students are in the US today winning AJGA tournaments and in top junior rankings.

 

The only one gripe I have on all these is that Korean parents are just too pushy and killing their children's potential to become great players. Great players have more than just talent and work ethic. They have the creativity and character that separates them from good players and can be developed only by themselves and not by their parents.

 

This about sums it all up - great informative post - thanks :drinks:

[BraveAnthony]

A question.... Is it also true that there is a different mindset in terms of practicing in the past? More time is spent on the driving range perfecting the driver...and less on short game and iron play? More on 'hitting balls' than on emphasing ball striking and scoring. Many can hit it a mile with the driver...but no other clubs.

 

I'm not sure. What I can tell you is that when I took lessons from KPGA teaching pros, they do emphasize the importance of hitting your driver long but they don't want you even trying to increase your iron distance. This one pro asked me "why do you want to hit your iron longer?" and i said "cuz my buddies in my foursome grabs 7 irons and i grab 5 on 175 par 3". He said that was stupid and told me to lengthen my shaft so my 7 would hit like 5" and added "it's stupid to boast your iron distance because irons are not the clubs designed to hit far; they're designed to be accurate". He also said good players will laugh at me if I try to kill iron shots.

I rarely get that from PGA teaching pros. When I tell them I want to gain more distance on my iron shots, they would tell me that i need to do this, that, and etc.

[DT Fan]

BraveAnthony,

 

10 years surfing golf forums and most of what I've seen and read is pure drivel. Your original post is one of the most informative, intelligent and well thought out posts I've ever read in a golf forum. I actually felt like I learned a great deal, which is not something I can readily remember from all the other millions of posts I've read in the various forums.

[18th Legion]

This may not be popular but, the lack of popularity of Golf among North American, European, and Australian female golfers are the reason that Asian, particularly Korean golfers number so many.

 

For the sake of discussion, we should separate Asian female golfers from Korean female golfers. Success or participation of Asian Non-Korean golfers is very limited.

 

If the population percentages were similar to that of men in those three continents were greater, the success rate of Asian golfers would greatly be reduced. Similar to the men. For every Korean female that makes the LPGA there are ten professionals who attempt and don't.

 

As fitness and strength begin to play a greater role on the Men's tour, size and stature are beginning to play a difference. Certainly there are exceptions. In time, a few things will happen. The percentages, at least in America of female youth golfers compared to males is gaining and in some segments pulling even. The LPGA will begin to lengthen the courses. Over the next five or six years the amount of Korean golfers will be greatly reduced. The amount of female golfers from other Asian countries should stay about the same.