There are signs of division again ahead of the expiration of the president’s term in December.
Members are divided into factions every four years and fight in a muddy
manner. Association and tour development must be put before individual interests.
Expectations are for the four-year cycle to break bad habits and unite.
“This time, I want to see everyone join forces.”
An official in the golf industry said this with concern ahead of the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) presidential election scheduled for December. In fact, during the presidential election season, which is held every four years, divisions among members deepened, raising eyebrows more than once or twice.
It was the same four years ago. There were all kinds of rumors in the golf world about the election of a new president ahead of the expiration of former president Yang Hwi-bu’s term. The members, who were divided into groups, did not hesitate to criticize each other in order to elect the candidate they recommended as president, and muddy fights continued day after day. After a long period of suffering, Koo Ja-cheol, Chairman of SSCO Holdings, was elected as the new KPGA Chairman. However, as the election season approaches, the inside of the association is becoming noisy again. Ahead of the presidential election, members seem to be divided again, with those who call for a second term for the current president and those who argue that a new president should be elected.
Those in favor of reappointment are emphasizing that President Koo was active in hosting competitions during his tenure and achieved results. In addition, he is said to have led the association in a relatively stable manner, contributing to the creation of profits for the association through active cooperation with foreign tours and new broadcasting rights contracts. The opposing side claims that Chairman Koo did not perform as well as expected. They also claim that the reputation of the association has been tarnished by Chairman Koo’s social network service (SNS) activities.
In addition, names of candidates with no real substance are being raised, 짱구카지노 도메인shaking up the association’s election board. There are also a lot of rumors that the owner of J Construction Company will run as a candidate for chairman and that the vice chairman of T Group will run for election. Also, the name of Chairman A, who had been mentioned as a candidate for chairman for over a dozen years, came up again.
KPGA is at a crossroads between decline and revival. The KPGA Korean Tour enjoyed a period of prosperity until the early 2000s. Afterwards, as KLPGA women’s golf gained popularity, the size of the competition was greatly reduced. The KLPGA enjoyed a boom, with 30 competitions being held annually, but the KPGA Korean Tour was unable to host more than 20 competitions for several years, including 17 in 2018 and 15 in 2019.
At least, it is gradually stabilizing as it hosted 21 competitions last year and 22 this year. Naturally, the number of fans visiting the competition venue increased, and the prize money also increased. The KPGA Korean Tour’s prize money increased significantly from 14.3 billion won in 2018, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, to 23.7 billion won this year.
In order for the KPGA Korean Tour to continue its current atmosphere, stability of the association is needed more than anything else. If it becomes known to the outside world that they seem to be fighting over food inside, it is certain that returning fans and sponsors will turn their backs. This is why KPGA players are anxious about this election.
Whoever it is, the next president must solve the long-standing problem of harmony. To do so, he must lay down his authority as president and communicate more frequently and actively with members. Without harmony, it is difficult to expect organizational stability. It’s not too late. There is ample time to join forces for the development of the association and the tour rather than considering individual interests. I hope that this time, the bad habits that have been repeated every four years will be broken.