Golf Courses at Peak Boom... Safety Measures 'Not So Sure'

Over 50 Million Visitors at Domestic Golf Courses

Rep. Lee Hyung-seok "Will Request Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Strengthen Safety Inspections"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Although domestic golf courses have recently enjoyed a record boom, it has been revealed that safety measures by golf course operators are extremely inadequate, exposing users to various safety accident risks.

According to the recent five-year golf course user status secured by National Assembly member Lee Hyung-seok (Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of users at domestic golf courses exceeded 50 million annually starting last year.

This is analyzed to be due to the blockage of overseas travel caused by COVID-19 and a significant increase in golf beginners among the 2030 generation.

In this situation, green fees have also continuously risen, and domestic golf courses are enjoying the greatest boom in history.

The problem is that along with the increase in domestic golf course users, safety accidents at golf courses (ball accidents, cart accidents, drowning accidents) also increased 2.2 times from 675 cases in 2017 to 1,468 cases in 2021 over five years.

The number of injured persons also increased 2.2 times from 603 in 2017 to 1,355 in 2021.

From 2017 to April this year, there were six deaths caused by safety accidents within golf courses. Among them, 66% of the deaths, four people, occurred due to drowning accidents in golf course hazards.

In April, a tragic accident occurred where a female golfer in her 50s fell into a hazard at a golf course in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, was transported to a hospital, but ultimately died.

Around the hazard where the accident occurred, there were no safety facilities such as safety signs warning of drowning risks or safety fences, except for a life-saving tube.

After the accident, Jeollanam-do and each city and county inspected the hazards of 39 golf courses in the province, but it was confirmed that most golf courses lacked safety fences and safety signs to prevent accidents of falling into hazards, showing that safety measures are very inadequate.

There are insufficient regulations in related laws regarding the installation of safety facilities at golf courses, so there is no way to enforce corrective actions.

According to the Act on the Installation and Use of Sports Facilities, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism delegates and entrusts sports facility safety management to local governments, and accordingly, each local government is required to conduct safety inspections of sports facilities at least once every six months.

However, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s sports facility safety inspection guidelines, safety inspections are to be conducted by experienced and skilled personnel at a level of careful visual inspection. According to Rep. Lee, safety inspections are only performed visually and at a formal level, so proper inspections cannot be conducted.

Rep. Lee said, “Safety measures to institutionally prevent golf course safety accidents are urgently needed,” and added, “I plan to strongly request the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to supplement regulations on the installation of safety facilities within golf courses that can guarantee the safety of golf course users and to strengthen safety inspection measures.”

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