"Pro, please sign here too."
The scene unfolded Saturday at the final round of the "2026 KPPGA Samcheok Open with High1" at Dogye Park Golf Course in Samcheok, Gangwon Province. As a ball left a player's club and was sucked into the hole, applause erupted among the gallery. Right after the match, participants and spectators flocked toward the winner, with some holding out paper and waist bags to request autographs. The gestures marked the birth of the inaugural champion of professional park golf.
The "2026 KPPGA Samcheok Open with High1" (par 66), hosted by the Korea Professional Park Golf Association (KPPGA), is Korea's first official professional park golf tournament. A total of 211 players competed in the preliminary round Friday, of whom only 49 in the men's division and 20 in the women's division reached the final stage Saturday.
Players who advanced to the final after completing the previous day's preliminaries were busy from before the start of play. In front of the registration desk, players lined up in turn to check their documents and submit their clubs and balls. Competition officials inspected the equipment specifications one by one before obtaining player signatures to complete the entry procedures. Players who finished inspection checked their final putts on the practice green, while officials at each hole confirmed shot order and rule compliance, heightening the tension.
The scene briefly stirred when one player was disqualified for missing the tee-off time. The player asked for leniency, saying he had arrived on time but did not hear the start announcement, but the panel of competition officials handed down a disqualification ruling in accordance with the rules. After a brief commotion, players soon focused on their own play.
Among the gallery surrounding the final course, sighs and cheers alternated with each shot by the players. Sighs spilled out here and there as a ball grazed the cup and passed by, and applause followed each time a birdie putt was successful. Officials from equipment makers who sponsored the players also watched the match among the gallery, holding their breath as they observed the players' play.
Some were seen applauding each time the player they sponsored produced a good shot, or sharing the joy with other spectators. "About 20 players competed in this tournament with our products," said Kang Nam-hoon, a director at Bando Golf. "From the practice rounds, we have been observing how players use the equipment in actual play, and we are also finding directions for product improvement."
Quite a few players who were eliminated in the preliminaries stayed to watch the final round and check the results to the end. Kim Yeon-hwan, a pro who competed from Weihai, China, failed to clear the preliminary hurdle but remained at the course until the end. "The elimination is disappointing, but simply experiencing the scene of Korea's first professional tournament firsthand is meaningful," he said. "In the next tournament, I definitely want to stand on the final stage."
Meanwhile, in this tournament, Shin Dong-seok in the men's division and Ahn Jeong-young in the women's division recorded two-round totals of 111 and 117 strokes, respectively, to become the inaugural champions of Korea's first official professional park golf tournament. In the men's division, Jang Dong-min took second place with 115 strokes, and Park Kyung-jin took third with 117 strokes. In the women's division, Lee Joo-hyun finished runner-up with 118 strokes, while Ko Gye-hwa, Jang Jeong-ae, and Jeon Young-seon each recorded 124 strokes to tie for third place.
Players who finished their matches immediately took out their mobile phones. Checking the real-time leaderboard on their screens, players asked each other about scores or watched the shifts in rankings. As rankings reversed by a single stroke late in the match, sighs and cheers crossed paths here and there. In this tournament, instead of paper scorecards, scores entered by competition officials at each hole were reflected in real time through the mobile park golf platform "Voice Park," allowing players to wage fierce ranking competition until the final moment.
