Iss. #214 | Is Korea a golfer's paradise? Yes.

Iss. #214 | Is Korea a golfer's paradise? Yes.

"Golf sucks so bad. Nice double." - Peter Malnati murmuring to himself after holing out from the fairway for a double bogey at the Black Desert Championship... or me murmuring to myself after holing out from a greenside bunker for a double bogey at basically every round ever. 
 
Pros—they're just like us.

 

Korea is lapping us.

GOLF HEAVEN MIGHT JUST BE IN KOREA
Here is a quote from me, one week ago, just before writing the feature on Korean golf courses including 30 minute lunch breaks at the turn... 
 
"I don't know if I'd like a trip to Korea very much..." 

CUT TO:
 
Me today—after consuming a straight week of hype videos and deep dives into Korean golf culture.

"I fhink I'm weawwy stawting to wike dis idea of a golf twip to Kowea."
 
Apologies to everyone who doesn't know the trend from TikTok and a second set of apologies to those who know the trend on TikTok and just sighed due to cringe.
 
But seriously, I dove deep into Korean golf culture this past week and I think it may be undisputable how many laps they've made around US golf culture. Sure, the amount of affordable golf courses per capita there is orders of magnitude less than here... but they haven't let it stop them one bit.
 
The video above details how training centers, indoor facilities, and driving ranges are all over the place in the cities. The image above is from a particularly cool spot called MMove that features mid-air laser light targets to try and aim for... getting yet ANOTHER step closer to my Mario Golf concept.
 
He also mentions that certain department stores will have entire golf sections with little storefronts featuring a variety of brands that you can shop. 
 
And I caught other pieces about Korean golf culture that basically go so far as to say that improving your golf game is more or less some people's entire lifestyle/identity.
 
Wild.

 

SNL gets into golf

LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT'S—A GOLF SKIT!
It's not often that golf finds its way into the world of sketch comedy, but SNL last weekend featured an entire pre-taped sketch with host Nate Bargatze.
 
Click through the image above to see the full clip—but for those aren't THAT curious, the whole thing was—fine.
 
The idea was that the pro golfer kept hitting his shots into various wildlife around the course—one by one pulverizing birds in mid-air, a bald eagle's nest and eventually killing the course's mascot turtle in the pond.
 
Overall I get it, couldn't get too insider golf with the comedy as most people watching wouldn't understand. But then I got curious how it even made the air or where the idea even came from—and I found that Nate is a big golfer. So much so that he has a bit about golf in one of his stand-up sets.
 
Now THIS is worth a watch. He tells the story of when he took his wife golfing one time, hoping to share his favorite hobby with the one he loves... and things didn't go great. Definitely a comedy set by a golfer for golfers, though it surprisingly got a lot of laughs so maybe there's hope.

 

You've heard of Air Jordan...

INTRODUCING TIGERAIRE
No, not that Tiger.
It's actually in reference to these Tigers from LSU. Tigeraire is a cooling device company that created a helmet air conditioner of sorts to help athletes stay cool on hot days. It looks almost like a little clip-on microphone but it pumps cool air. Clever.
 
Tigeraire is also the company that's challenging Sun Day Red's trademark because they "unlawfully hijacked" their tiger logo.
At face value, I wouldn't say the claim is BASELESS. It does look pretty close at first glance.
 
However, the news this week was that Sun Day Red is now "reluctantly" suing Tigeraire back stating:
 
"This case, unfortunately, presents the time-worn circumstance of an opportunistic, misguided business attempting to extract an unwarranted financial windfall from a larger and more successful brand, based on threats of legal action and demands for exorbitant sums.”
 
Gut reaction to that? Ehhhhh seems like maybe the little guy might be getting steamrolled. Then I read more...
 
Apparently, Sun Day Red has been trying for months prior to figure things out without taking legal action. Okay, good start. THEN in their filed evidence, Sun Day Red claims that Tigeraire had begun:

"Attending golf tournaments, changed its website’s home page to prominently feature golfers, and frantically added apparel to its product offerings – all in a clear attempt to manufacture the appearance of overlap where none existed in the actual marketplace."
 
Whoops.

 

Pinehurst has it all!

GOLF TRIP FOR THE HIGH HANDICAPPERS?
Shout-out to my buddy Ryan for alerting me to this post from Birdie Houses. (Quick note on Birdie Houses which I promise you will hear more of in the future—it's a company specializing in renting out vacation homes in premier golf destinations. Niche but effective.)
 
Apparently, Pinehurst offers a golf academy that's five days and four nights. It offers golfers the chance to play and learn from the best at one of America's top courses.
 
Every day you will start with a lesson to work on every part of your game before playing an afternoon round with professional coaches alongside. Meals are included at any of the on-property restaurants and for an upgrade fee you can play #2 as a cap to the trip.
 
Color me intrigued.
 
The cost? "As low as $2800 per person." 
 
Color me a little less intrigued.

 

A quick fantasy football pop-in

HEY, HOW'D THIS GET HERE?
I'll just leave this here.
 
 

(REMINDER—NOT A SINGLE VOTE FOR ME)
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