Golfzon County Holds the Largest Number of Golf Courses in Korea

Operating 19 Locations with 441 Holes, Including 4 Consignment Courses
Among Major Corporations: Samsung, Booyoung, Hanwha, and GS in Order

Among domestic companies, Golfzon County was found to own the most golf courses.

This is a view of Anseong Eaglemont CC, acquired by Golfzon County in November last year. Photo by Golfzon County

According to the ranking of golf course ownership by domestic companies announced on the 20th by the YouTube channel ‘Leisure White Paper TV’ of the Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute, Golfzon County owns 15 golf courses in Korea and operates 4 golf courses under consignment, managing a total of 19 locations with 441 holes. This accounts for 4.1% of the total 10,847 holes of golf courses in Korea.

The second largest owner of golf courses is Samsung. It owns a total of 162 holes across 6 locations, including membership courses such as Anyang, Dongnae, Anseong, Gapyeong Benest, and public golf courses like Glenross and Lakeside CC, which was acquired in 2014. Shinhan Group owns 5 locations with 144 holes, including Ribera, Shinhan, and Greenhill.

Among large corporations, the order of golf course ownership is Samsung, Booyoung, Hanwha, and GS. Booyoung Group owns 126 holes across 6 locations including Jeju Booyoung, Suncheon Booyoung, and Muju Deogyusan, ranking 4th overall among companies. Among large corporations, 32 groups own 87 golf courses. The number of courses converted to 18 holes is highest in the metropolitan area with 36.9 locations, followed by Gangwon Province with 18.5 locations, and Jeju Island with 14.8 locations. Membership golf courses owned by large corporations raised green fees by 25.1% on weekdays between 2020 and 2024, which is 3.8% higher than the average increase for all membership courses.

Seo Cheonbeom, director of the Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute, said, "Owning golf courses improves business utility and profitability, so not only large corporations but also medium-sized companies want to own golf courses." He added, "However, it is a point that needs improvement that membership golf courses owned by large corporations with significant social responsibility raised green fees more than the average for all membership courses." This data was investigated based on the status of large business groups (publicly disclosed business groups) announced by the Fair Trade Commission last year.

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