Park Tae-geun, CEO of TrueGolf, "We Will Create a Real Ecosystem"

Korea's First Certified Used Golf Club Company
Non-Destructive X-Ray Inspection Patent Quality Certification
"Overseas Expansion After AI Advancement and App Focus"

TrueGolf is making waves in the domestic golf industry. It is the first company in Korea to certify used golf clubs. CEO Park Tae-geun stated in an interview with Asia Economy on the 10th, “The used golf club market is a massive industry estimated at around 500 billion KRW, but there are no verification or warranty services available,” adding, “As our company name suggests, we aim to complete a system for buying and selling well with truthful inspection, truthful transactions, and truthful information.”

Park Tae-geun, CEO of TrueGolf, asserted, "We will complete a system that sells truth, not lies, in the used golf club market."

TrueGolf is an innovative certification service platform for used golf clubs. It is a much-needed business in the current used club market flooded with counterfeit clubs. TrueGolf facilitates direct transactions between sellers and buyers within the app. Sellers who want to sell their used golf clubs send them to TrueGolf, where the authenticity is determined using club big data, and the clubs are checked with a ‘non-destructive X-ray inspection device’ to assign a final grade. If there are no issues, the club receives a grade along with the ‘TrueGolf Certification’ mark. A 5% commission fee based on the club’s price is charged, which the seller bears. TrueGolf provides a one-month quality guarantee.

CEO Park spent over a year developing the world’s only non-destructive X-ray inspection device. He struggled to find the optimal X-ray machine, reflector, and shielding device. The cost approached nearly 100 million KRW. He launched 14 True Leveling Systems and completed patent applications. He pointed out, “When a club is placed in the non-destructive X-ray inspection device, any tampering with the club is clearly revealed,” adding, “There were many issues with shafts. It was detected that shafts were connected using extension tools.”

CEO Park conceived the used golf club certification business five years ago and worked hard to secure investment. He received about 500 million KRW in seed investment from Lotte Ventures and a group of individual investors and started the business in June. Through the TrueGolf app, various services such as buying, selling, searching, and price checking are offered. The app builds a trustworthy transaction structure among stores and customers, dealers and customers, and customers themselves.

TrueGolf's patented non-destructive X-ray inspection device for used clubs.

CEO Park is a golf industry expert with 12 years of experience. Starting with Volvik in 2012, he gained practical experience at Casco, Voice Caddie, and others. He handled various roles including marketing, business strategy, and overseas sales. Park is an idea bank. While at Voice Caddie, he created a system where caddies could independently receive sponsorships, called the ‘Tour Caddie Team.’ Recently, all caddies wear hats for pay. He also led the contract for distance measuring devices with the US Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour. Park emphasized, “Working in the golf industry has been tremendously helpful,” and “It helped me develop a business-oriented perspective on golf.”

CEO Park stressed the importance of golf. He believes that anyone working in the golf industry must know how to play golf. When he was at Voice Caddie, the company supported lessons and practice costs. He said, “I gained a lot of business inspiration on the field,” and promised, “Once the company is established, we will help our employees play golf as well.”

CEO Park plans to focus on AI advancement and app-related activities for the time being. He also intends to secure additional investment and quickly expand into Japan and the United States. He expressed confidence, saying, “I am certain this business will succeed. We want to create a world where sellers get fair prices and consumers can buy with trust,” adding, “We have established networks in 25 major countries recognized as golf powerhouses. This will enable more effective expansion when entering overseas markets.”

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