Heo Seong-hoon achieves ‘58 of the dream’

Korea now has record of 58 strokes in 18 holes, the first time in the nation’s golf history. Heo Seung-hoon (19, Chung-Ang University) recorded 13-under-par 58 on Monday during the primary round for Group A of the 16th KPGA Srixon Tour held at Gunsan CC (Par 71) in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, with 13 birdies without bogey. It was the first record in Korea’s domestic golf tour, although it will not be recognized officially as it was from a preliminary round. Before him, Lee Seung-taek (27), Lee Hyung-joon (30), Park Jun-sub was holding a title for the lowest strokes for 18 holes with 60 strokes in KPGA Korean tour.

Heo initially started playing golf influenced by his mother, when he left for New Zealand to study at the age of 10. After returning to Korea at age 14, he fully jumped into the world of golf. The young golf player's talent first grabbed the attention of people when he won the 37th Golf Tournament for Ulsan-city Golf Association President’s Cup in 2020. Heo joined KPGA in October of the same year, became a qualified KPGA Tour pro in 2021, and has been playing at Srixon Tour since.

“It has not been easy to completely committed just to golf because I had to divide my attentions between study and the sport. Now as I’m a college student, I intend to fully channel my focus on playing golf better,” Heo said. “Starting with passing the seed match scheduled for later this year, I’d like to really show what I can do during the first round of the tour in 2023. Ultimately, I’d like to join the PGA tour as well.”


hun@donga.com