"The core capital and population of the golf industry are flowing into park golf. The park golf equipment market, currently valued at 30 billion won, will grow rapidly to 100 billion won within the next five years."
Park Young-chul, CEO of MU Park Golf, said this in a meeting with The Seoul Economic Daily on the 27th, adding, "With the retirement of the 50s and 60s baby boomer generation, which was the main consumer base of the golf market, coinciding with the MZ generation's exit from golf, people are flocking to park golf." He stressed, "I expect the park golf population, currently at around 500,000, to grow rapidly to 2 to 3 million within five years. The shift to park golf, which allows people to cut spending while maintaining their health, is now an irreversible trend."
Park is a businessman who has experienced market changes firsthand over more than 30 years in the golf industry. Starting with "Olimar Tri-Metal" in 1997, he successfully established global brands in the domestic market, including "Never Compromise," famous for being the winning club of Pak Se-ri, along with "Grand Prix" and "Lynx Golf." Having covered the entire process from golf equipment development to distribution and accompanying the growth period of Korea's golf industry, Park now sees new possibilities in park golf. "According to Korea Customs Service statistics, while golf club imports are decreasing by 20-30% every year, park golf equipment is recording a steep growth of more than 30% annually," he said. "We are now in the early stages of park golf leaping from a sports event to an industry."
MU Park Golf is targeting the market with a two-track strategy of hardware premiumization and content popularization. In terms of products, the company is focused on elevating park golf beyond mere recreational sports into the realm of precision sports equipment. "We applied high-density African ebony to the head to achieve the best hitting feel, and used a 6-axis carbon shaft for directional control," Park explained. "In particular, we focused on reducing elbow strain for older users with a grip equipped with shock absorption."
He is also directly engaged in content expansion. Park's judgment is that park golf must evolve into a "broadcast sport" with star players and narratives. He personally planned and hosted the "2026 MU Park Golf High School Alumni Championship," which will be aired on JTBC Golf in June this year. The idea is to create a competitive structure based on the tight-knit relationships of high school alumni to enhance the immersion of the games. It is also an unusual attempt for a golf specialty channel to broadcast a park golf tournament. "The moment the public starts watching 'who wins,' sports expand into an industry," he said. "When broadcasting combines with storytelling, the park golf market will grow to a scale completely different from now." He added with confidence, "The current park golf scene resembles the period when golf was becoming popular, but the speed of expansion will be much faster for park golf."
