Im Hee-jeong's New Nest Protagonist "Reason for Transfer?"

Kim Hanbyeol and others receive 'Bold Treatment New Start', Kim Taehun, Kim Seonghyeon, and Park Chaeyoon join 'New Golf Team'

Lim Hee-jung received a groundbreaking offer and transferred to Korea Land Trust. Photo by Elle Golf

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ‘Stove league’.

In professional baseball, it refers to player transfers or free agent (FA) contracts during the off-season. It is another battle that can determine the outcome of the year’s season. Golf is no exception. This year, especially, with many players’ sponsorship contracts expiring, the ‘FA market’ was hotter than ever. Here is a summary of the stories of players who received better offers and started anew as pillars of newly established teams.

▲ ‘Exceptional treatment’ = Im Hee-jeong (21), in her third year on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, settled with Korea Land & Trust. She parted ways with Hanwha Q CELLS, with whom she had been under the same roof since 2019. She achieved three wins in her debut year, and although she had no wins last year, she entered the top 3 five times, ranking 5th in average score (70.40), 5th in the points race (334 points), and 8th in prize money (526.06 million KRW). It is known that she receives an annual signing bonus of over 600 million KRW.

In addition to the main sponsor, she signed contracts for balls and clubs with Bridgestone Golf. She is also expected to wear Elle Golf apparel on the field. Kim Han-byul (25), a promising player on the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Korean Tour, wore the SK Telecom cap. The contract period is three years. She joined the regular tour in 2019 and consecutively won the Hazzy’s Golf KPGA Open and Shinhan Donghae Open last year. She ranked 2nd in both the points race (3,039 points) and prize money (422.71 million KRW).

Kim Tae-hoon is active as the ace of Webcash Group, which established a golf team this year.

▲ ‘New wine in new bottles’ = Kim Tae-hoon (36) joined Webcash Group, which established a golf team. He debuted on the Korean Tour in 2007 and has accumulated four wins with his powerful long drives. A former long drive champion in 2013, he ranked 4th last season in average driving distance (304.57 yards). He is the ‘domestic number one’ who won the Genesis Championship last year and topped the points race (3,252 points) and prize money (495.93 million KRW). Webcash Group also recruited Kim Sung-hyun (23) and Park Jung-hwan (28).

Major champion Park Chae-yoon (27) took on the flagship role for Q Capital Partners. She earned her first career win at the 2018 McCol Yongpyong Resort Open and secured her second KLPGA Tour win at the 2019 major Hanwha Classic, becoming a symbol of consistency. At the Hanwha Classic, she started the final day tied for 6th place, six strokes behind, and staged a dramatic comeback. Q Capital Partners formed a golf team with promising players including Park Chae-yoon, Hwang Jeong-mi (22), Ma Da-som (22), and Yoo Hyo-joo (24).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.