Chungnam to Build and Expand 30 Park Golf Courses... "Caring for Seniors' Health"

Elderly club members are playing a match at the Muhancheon Riverside Park Golf Course in Yesan. Provided by Chungnam Province

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province plans to significantly increase the number of park golf courses to promote the activation of sports activities among the elderly population.

On the 22nd, the province announced that it will invest 30 billion KRW by 2024 to build and expand 30 park golf courses within the province.

The construction and expansion of park golf courses are being promoted in response to the recent sharp increase in demand for park golf, especially among the elderly.

Park golf is played on a course of about 20,000㎡ with 18 holes, using a wooden club shaped like a golf club (86 cm, 600 g) to hit a 6 cm diameter ball into the hole. Usually, the game is played in groups of four, and the player with the fewest strokes at the end of the course wins.

Unlike regular golf, park golf is known to be popular among the elderly due to its lower cost and physical burden during play.

For example, a single 18-hole park golf game involves about 10,000 steps, providing significant health benefits through walking exercise, and most courses are free to use, with only some clubs collecting small membership fees.

Currently, there are a total of 144 park golf sports clubs active in the region, and the number of registered club members has surged from 2,890 in 2020 to 4,375 last year, and 5,843 this year.

To accommodate the rapidly increasing demand for park golf, the province plans to expand the number of park golf courses from the current 30 (including 2 under construction) to 60 over the next two years.

As of the end of last month, the region with the most park golf courses nationwide is Gyeongbuk (43 courses), followed by Gyeongnam (42 courses) and Gyeonggi (41 courses). Chungnam ranks fourth nationwide.

However, once the additional park golf courses are completed in 2024, Chungnam is expected to have the largest number of park golf courses in the country.

Above all, the province expects that expanding park golf courses will ultimately increase the participation of the elderly population in sports activities, playing a positive role in preventing elderly diseases and reducing medical costs.

Kim Tae-heum, Governor of Chungnam Province, said, “In the case of park golf, in addition to the exercise effect for maintaining health, the recreational element makes it useful in increasing the participation of seniors in sports activities. The province plans to build at least one park golf course per city and county capable of hosting national or regional tournaments.”

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