“I will participate again when the tournament is held in Japan” Ko Gun-taek, winner of the Korean Tour 2023 season opening game. “I want to participate in the Korean Tour tournament held in Korea.” Japan Professional Golf Tour (JGTO) Long Hitter Riki Kawamoto메이저사이트.
From the 15th, the Hana Bank Invitational has been held at Isumi GC in Chiba, Japan. This year is the first time that the Hana Bank Invitational, co-hosted by the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour and JGTO, has been held in Japan.
76 Korean nationals, 60 top players from the JGTO, and 144 players representing Asian countries such as China, the Philippines, and Australia participate, making it a true international competition. The winner will be granted a two-year Korean tour and a JGTO seed.
In particular, this event is evaluated as serving as a priming water for promoting Northeast Asian friendship and for sports and cultural exchanges. In 2008, Hana Financial Group held the Korea-China Tour Invitational, the first regular professional golf tour between Korea and China, six times over three years.
In 2018, the scope of exchange was expanded to include Korea, China, and Japan by including JGTO. This year, it was decided to hold the tournament in Japan to go beyond golf exchanges between Korea and Japan and to promote sports and cultural exchanges in Northeast Asia and present a new direction for the development of golf in Asia.
As expected by the organizers, it is becoming a meaningful event that lays the foundation for sports exchange in Northeast Asia. The field was not only a place of intense competition for the championship, but also a place of friendship and exchange.
In the 1st and 2nd rounds of the tournament, Jung Chan-min, the king of long strokes of the Korean Tour and JGTO, and Kawamoto played together, not only competing in good faith but also building a strong friendship. After the second round, Kawamoto said, “Korean players have good shots and great distances.” “Jung Chan-min knows how to speak Japanese. He mixed English and talked about training methods. We enjoyed the round by talking about the weather and restaurants. I did,” he said happily.
The level of satisfaction of the participants in the competition was also high. Song Young-han, who received the rookie award at both the Korean Tour and the JGTO, welcomed the tournament, saying, “It is motivating to have a tournament with Korean Tour players.” revealed
Go Gun-taek, winner of the DB Insurance Promy Open, the opening day of the Korean Tour this season, said, “I have learned a lot from playing against Japanese players in terms of recovery, such as short games and putting.” I will participate again when the tournament is held in Japan.”
Kawamoto also expressed his wish, “If I have a chance to participate in the Korean Tour, I want to go to Korea and hold a tournament.”
“We have plans for sports exchanges,” said Kim Young-joo, head of Hana Bank’s ESG planning department. I will contribute,” he said.