Lunar New Year (22nd) is approaching. 2023 is the year of the ‘black rabbit’. Rabbits have symbolized fertility and abundance since ancient times. We listened to the New Year’s wishes and resolutions of the rabbit year players who pledged to be active in the year of the cat on the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour and the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour.
●Dad Heo In-hoe and Maeng Dong-seop “Extraordinary sense of responsibility” Heo
In-hoe and Maeng Dong-seop, born in 1987, are veterans representing the Korean tour. The two also ate rice together at the Armed Forces Sports Unit, which was temporarily established for the 2015 Mungyeong World Military Games. This year, a son and a daughter are due to be born, so the responsibility and resolution are different than ever.
Heo In-hoe, who has won 5 wins in total, including 4 wins on the Korean Tour and 1 win on the Japan Tour, said, “My son will be born in February. I want to be a great dad with good grades,” he said.
Maeng Dong-seop, who has three wins on the Korean Tour, dreams of a new leap forward. Maeng Dong-seop, who shrugged off his injury last year, had a successful comeback season by participating in 15 tournaments and passing the cut in 7, including 4 top 10s. He said, “There is a happy occasion for my daughter to be born in April.” He said, “I want to be a proud father to my daughter.”
Lee Ga-young, Choi Ye-rim, and Park Hyun-kyung “A Better New Year”
Lee Ga-young and Choi Ye-rim are representative ‘rabbit born in 1999’ on the KLPGA tour. The two, who are usually close, had mixed feelings last year. Lee Ga-young, who did not hesitate to win at the threshold of winning every time, enjoyed the joy of her first victory in her thrilling debut at the ‘2022 Dongbu Construction Korea Land Trust Championship’ in October. On the other hand, Choi Ye-rim failed to win her first win in her debut despite finishing runner-up in three competitions, including the PLK Pacific Rings Korea Championship in December, which was her last competition last year.
Lee Ga-young said, “I was happy to win the championship I dreamed of last year, but at the same time, I clearly realized what I lacked.” said. Unlike most players who train abroad, Choi Ye-rim, who is sweating in Korea, said, “This winter, I am resting and healing with my dog, focusing on physical training and putting practice.” Until I do, my goal is always ‘first win’. Please watch over me,” she said, conveying her New Year’s resolution. 메이저놀이터
Park Hyun-kyung, born in January 2000, is a representative star of the KLPGA, known for having a large number of fans. He advanced to the finals in all competitions he participated in last year, but he could not quench his thirst for victory. After successfully winning the KLPGA Championship for the second year in a row in April 2021 and reporting three wins in total, he failed to add winning trophies in 53 tournaments until the last tournament last year. Among them, he succeeded in passing the cut in a row in the last 49 competitions and recorded only runner-up 7 times.
Park Hyun-kyung said, “It was very regrettable that I couldn’t win, so it was a season where I had a lot of earnestness for winning.” She is working harder on her strength training this winter than she has ever done.” “I was happy last year, but it feels like there were a little more difficult days,” he added, “I will thoroughly prepare for more happy days this year.”
Reporter Kim Do-heon dohoney@donga.com