Opinion & Analysis

Is Park Golf the world’s next golf craze?

Published

2 years ago

Apr 20, 2023

Before the onset of Covid-19, the number of new golfers taking up the game was on a decline worldwide. The same trend was prevalent here in South Korea until the pandemic unexpectedly created a golf boom over the past 3 years. And thanks to state-of-the-art golf simulators and its easy accessibility, the ‘screen golf’ culture here made it safe and easy for newbies to get a taste for the game.

Now as the threat of the virus abates, a recent study showed that many of the new golfers are leaving the game in search of other activities. If you are familiar with Korea’s golf environment, the reasons are understandable. Although we are the world’s third largest consumer of golf, the high costs to play the game keep the entry barrier high. Playing a round of golf is much more affordable and easier in the US and Canada to be sure, but today I would like to talk about a new form of golf that has enjoyed tremendous growth and popularity here in recent years.

A new strain of golf virus that is sweeping Asia and coming to America is… Park Golf! (Picture: www.gigagolf.co.kr)

Park Golf… Say What Now?

Park Golf is a new type of golf that started in 1983 in a small town in Japan. The founders of Park Golf wanted to play a game of golf that was easily accessible and playable for people of all ages while keeping the name, rules, and equipment as simple as possible.

As the name implies, Park Golf literally means playing golf in a park. Using pretty much the same rules as regular golf, the goal is to get the ball into a hole using the fewest strokes. The game is played on a small 9- or 18-hole course about 1/10th the size of an actual golf course, and even uses the same words like par, birdie, eagle, out of bounds, etc.

The key difference is that Park Golf only requires a single club that resembles a croquet mallet with zero-degree loft and a plastic ball the size of a billiard ball. Imagine a faster-paced game of croquet with the rules of golf and voila. Park Golf, or as I first called it, Geriatric Golf.

Right. So why would any self-respecting golfer find this miniaturized version interesting at all? When it first came across my desk a couple years ago, my snort of derision was heard across the office upon reading that it was comparable to REAL golf for fun and enjoyment.

Give me a break. But then it kept popping up again and again throughout the year; how fast it was growing, how so many cities and provinces throughout Korea are allotting funds and land to encourage the ‘sport’, and so on. The tipping point where I finally decided to see what the hubbub was about was when I noticed that a Park Golf course was operating within walking distance from my office.

Park Golf has it all, complete with bunkers, rough and fairways, and even OBs.

Overall, it took me over a year to actually work up enough curiosity to stand on the first tee box with a mallet club in my hand. However, I was soon surprised to find myself obsessing about how to hit the ball straighter and further – all things that I would normally do at Golf. Of all the similarities it has with Golf, the addictive nature had to be the biggest.

Park Golf, Past And Present

Unbeknownst to most, Park Golf has been around for a while and this year actually marks the 40th anniversary of the sport. Since it was first conceived in 1983 in the small non-descript town of Makubetsu, Japan, it is now actively enjoyed in over 18 countries including the United States, Canada, China, Australia, Taiwan, and Central America.

For some addictive golf action at a fraction of the price, Park Golf can’t be beat (Picture: DestroyerGolfPark.com)

In Japan alone, there are now more than 5 million players (or “parkers” as they call themselves) and over 700 Park Golf courses playing under the official rules set out by IPGA (International Park Golf Association). In Korea, Park Golf has also grown rapidly since its introduction in 1995, and owing to the incredibly addictive nature of the sport (it is golf, after all), the number of courses and players has nearly doubled year on year to rival those of Japan.

In addition, the number of new Parkers is growing by hundreds each day, so much so that even large OEM manufacturers like Callaway, Mizuno, and Honma have jumped in to make equipment for the sport. What began as a humble game in a small Japanese town, Park Golf is now supported globally with an official Park Golf Association in many countries, all following a systematic framework of game rules, equipment, and hosting of various domestic and international competitions around the world.

Dick Beyer in his trademark mask at Destoyer Park Golf, America’s first PG course (www.destroyerparkgolf.com)

It may also surprise you to know that Park Golf is also alive and well in America, just 40 minutes outside Buffalo in the town of Akron, New York. A quick search on Google found that the game was introduced to the US in a big way by Hall of Fame professional wrestler Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer.

During his career in Japan, he fell in love with the game and began dreaming of introducing the sport to the US. As a result, America’s first DESTROYER PARK GOLF was launched in 2013. The par-66, 18-hole course is proudly owned and maintained by the married couple, Kris Beyer and Chris Jones, who are both die-hard advocates for the game. Details of their story can be read here.

Park Golf Rules & Equipment

Park Golf rules for the golf course and equipment are created and strictly governed by IPGA, formerly named Japan Park Golf Association (https://ipgaa.com/ in the US). Similar to golf, it is played on a Park Golf course with 18 holes that make up a golf round. Each hole is 20 to 100 meters long and the hole width is 8 inches in diameter and fitted with a flag pin. The par 66 course is approximately 1/10th the size of an actual course and is made up of par 3, par 4, and par 5 holes. A typical round can take up to about 90~120 minutes, depending on the pace of play and skill level.

Birthplace of Park Golf, the town of Makubetsu in Japan (Picture courtesy of Park Golf NPGA on YouTube)

True to the founders’ original philosophy of keeping the game simple, you only need one club, a ball, and a rubber tee. The mallet-shaped club can be made of wood, carbon, and steel, and uses a thicker carbon shaft than a regular golf club. It too is regulated by rules that it must be no more than 86cm in length and no more than 600g in total weight.

The club face is reinforced with a carbon face to absorb the impact of a plastic ball weighing around 90 grams, and has zero loft (it takes some skills to get the ball airborne past the knee!). As a side, I was worried that hitting a bigger heavier plastic ball might cause injury, but the mallet club and its shaft absorbed any shock that the impact produced. It felt ‘pure’ when hitting out of the middle of the club face, and the exhilaration from a shot struck well was just like those in regular golf.

Park Golf equipment is simple. Just add skills. (Picture: www.parkgolf.or.jp)

The tee box is typically a golf mat 1.25m x 1.25m in size. Balls are made of special plastic materials and are teed up on rubber tees for stroke play or match play. Like regular golf, it can be played with up to 4 players, but can also be played alone. Similar rules and etiquettes from golf are followed and there are marked areas for out-of-bounds where penalty strokes are imposed.

Park Golf may seem that it is easier to play, as it requires less number of clubs and shorter holes. Dubbed as being “croquet on steroids” however, the game is quite formidable and is not be compared to mere pitch and putt. One challenging aspect is that the ball usually rolls along the ground for most of the hole, and gauging the right amount of oomph to send the ball to desired distance requires both experience and muscle control. For me, it was maddeningly engaging as I expected to dominate the sport on my first outing. To the guffaws of the seniors I joined to play my first round, I failed to break 90 despite playing golf for 35 years. It was on.

Benefits of Park Golf

The great advantage of Park Golf is its inclusivity and accessibility. The whole family can enjoy it together at a fraction of the cost it takes to play Golf. For example, the price of a round of Park Golf near me is between 2,000 and 5,000 Korean Won, and less than $10 a round in the US.

The town of Makubetsu in Japan is like the St.Andrews of Park Golf (Picture courtesy of Park Golf NPGA on YouTube)

You can probably guess why Park Golf is so popular in Asia given the steep green fees and the long hours it takes to play a round on a regular course. With Park Golf, the entry barriers are low and it offers plenty of fresh air and exercise compared to indoor golf simulators. The break-out industry is also helping local communities in many ways, and have shown to benefit the social well-being and welfare of senior citizens by fostering healthier lifestyles, new connections, and friendships.

Furthermore, Park Golf is growing at a tremendous speed both here and overseas because it can be enjoyed by men and women, boys and girls of all ages. Puh-lease, right? You’ll never catch me playing this glorified putt-putt. I’ll give up regular golf on my deathbed, you say? Yep. I said it too. But in this age of sitting and staring at mobile phone screens all day, Park Golf may just be the perfect leisure activity for the whole family to enjoy well into ripe old age.

A family affair. (Picture courtesy of Park Golf NPGA on YouTube)

My mom and dad recently visiting from Canada had a blast playing with me. As golfers themselves, they were making jokes about Park Golf too. But they were soon into how similar it felt to actual golf. After the quick round, my dad wondered aloud if they’d be around to play a round with me and my own son, who just turned one. A small lump caught in my throat, and I said a small prayer inside wishing that three generations of our family can one day stand on the tee box together.

So What Is It Really Like?

My first round of Park Golf was late last May as a walk-on with a friend. This fact in itself is amazing, since NO regular golf courses in Korea allow walk-ons or joins. The mini-course was quite busy with mostly older seniors but a few middle-aged folks were playing with their children. I watched with interest as an older gent hit his tee shot toward the green with a wooden mallet and thought this would be a walk in the park, pun intended.

A short 5-min walk from my office at $7 a round. Best lunch hour, ever. More than 3 hundred of these in Korea so far and growing.

I was in for a rude awakening as I carded back-to-back triple bogey on the first two holes. Luckily my friend didn’t fare any better, so we decided to put a small wager on our Ryder Park match and the rest was history. For the next month, we spent our lunch hours power-walking to the course next to the office and screaming at the ball to either get there or sit down. The older parkers looked at us scrambling around their turf in amusement, but we were too immersed to notice most of the time. After all, those narrow holes flanked by OBs were no joke.

OB stakes suck regardless of whether its Park Golf or regular golf. (Picture: www.parkgolf.or.jp)

By the end of the summer, my best score was +2 over par and I even managed to card a hole-in-one; something I never did on a larger golf course. It was a great ego boost, and I was strutting around like a peacock until I overheard a septuagenarian behind us saying he shot 12 under par that morning. It’s good to have goals.

I think the fun and benefits of Park Golf is often underestimated due to its simplicity at first, especially by golfers. Again, it takes legit skills to make a larger 80~100g ball fly a hundred meters with a zero-lofted club. Like regular golf, distance control is very important and can take a while to be able to control the roll for distance over uneven terrain. And don’t even get me started on the topic of backspin. Imagine using only a putter to play a 300-yard hole and you get the idea.

Once you tee up the ball, it can’t be touched until you hole out.

My experience with Park Golf was every bit as competitive and stimulating as a normal round of golf. With the low cost and easy accessibility here in Korea, I can only foresee the sport getting bigger and bigger. In addition to the aforementioned OEMS, many Korean golf club manufacturers have also turned their attention to creating Park Golf clubs which can run you up between $300~$1000 for a single club. Luckily, local courses also rent clubs and balls for about $2 to further lend themselves to easy access and enjoyment.

A renowned Korean golf club manufacturer Giga Golf has said it has seen huge demand growth for Park Golf equipment (Picture: www.gigagolf.co.kr)

Interestingly, I have recently learned that fierce competition exists between Japanese and domestic manufacturers in the equipment sector for Park Golf, so you just know that this sport will break out globally soon. For those who are in urban planning or social welfare sector of local and municipal government, this could be the next big local attraction to elevate your city’s status. I know I’d love to see Park Courses when I visit Vancouver.

In all fairness, the first instinctive response of most golfers reading this will be dismissive. Sure, I get that. We already play the greatest game on earth, so why settle for a discounted version? I did the same. My advice, though? Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. There are now over 15 million parkers and more converts like me coming every day.

Check out the power swing and the accessories on the waist clip. Niiiiiice. Gotta look good no matter what sport we play. ((Picture: www.parkgolf.or.jp)

I started golf towards the end of Jr. High and missed out during grade school because I thought it was for old fogies. In high school, friends who didn’t play golf said the same thing and laughed at my Argyle pants. I often wonder how their addiction to golf is going now. I bet they wished they started sooner.

The moral of my story is we’re not getting any younger. So if you get a chance to swing a mallet, go ahead. Live life, I dare you. You’ll be glad you did.

Opinion & Analysis

The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 30, 2025

Ben Alberstadt

As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!

Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.

Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.

One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?

Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.

Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.

Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”

For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…

Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…

That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.

Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.

@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic

Podcasts

Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

Published

1 month ago

Jul 22, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!

GolfWRX · Fore Love of Golf: Cliff McKinney – Old Charlie Golf Club

Opinion & Analysis

On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

Published

1 month ago

Jul 22, 2025

Jaacob Bowden, PGA

Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.

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“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”

Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.

That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.

As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.

I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.

One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.

The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.

If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.

Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.

As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.

It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.

David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.

In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:

“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”

Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

Eventually, though, something shifts.

We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.

Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.

Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.

Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.

So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.

I see someone evolving.

He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.

It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.