A last-minute change to the course assignments for this year's park golf sports instructor practical and oral certification exam, announced just 10 days after the original notice and roughly one month before the test, is fueling confusion and backlash among applicants. Because the national certification exam is held only once a year, candidates who have spent months preparing say they are caught off guard.
According to the Korea Park Golf Association on Wednesday, the association announced the course assignments for the park golf sports instructor practical exam on April 27, with the test scheduled to take place from June 8 to 14 at Hancheon Park Golf Course in Yecheon. The association then revised the assignments on May 8. As a result, Level 1 and Level 2 lifestyle sports instructor candidates, who were originally set to take the exam on Courses A and B, were reassigned to Courses C and D, while senior and youth sports instructor candidates were moved to Courses A and B.
The sports instructor certification is a program run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee serving as the testing agency for the practical and oral exams. The course adjustment was implemented after consultations between the Korea Park Golf Association's operations committee and secretariat — which had been entrusted with test administration by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee — and the Yecheon County Park Golf Association, with approval from the culture ministry.
In the park golf sports instructor practical exam, adaptation to course-specific distances, terrain, and obstacle placement is a key factor in determining whether candidates pass. Many applicants spend five to six months or more preparing. The course reshuffle just days after the initial notice has left applicants disoriented. "I had already been practicing based on the originally announced course, and the change came without sufficient explanation, which has added significant psychological pressure," one applicant said. "Candidates need an explanation they can fully accept."
Fairness concerns are also emerging amid assessments that Courses C and D at Hancheon Park Golf Course are more difficult than Courses A and B. The association said it plans to adjust hole cup positions and parts of the course environment to balance the difficulty, but applicants argue that the perceived gap in difficulty remains substantial. "Since this is a national certification exam, there should be no perception that factors other than skill influence the outcome," another applicant said. "More transparent and consistent operations are needed so that applicants can accept the process."
The Yecheon County Park Golf Association said the course change was an unavoidable measure that took into account the differences in applicant numbers across categories and on-site operational conditions. "When we tallied initial applicant figures, the number of Level 1 and Level 2 lifestyle sports instructor candidates, who were originally scheduled to take the test on Courses C and D, was roughly four times greater than that of senior and youth sports instructor candidates," the association said. "Courses A and B are equipped with parking space, broadcasting and lighting facilities, and rest areas compared with Courses C and D, so we determined they were more suitable for handling a large number of people, and we made the change accordingly." Regarding procedural concerns raised in some quarters, the association said, "We had initially designated the exam courses before the number of applicants was finalized," adding, "Since the course change notice was completed on May 8, before the practice period began, there are no procedural issues."
