One of the biggest concerns in the golf world last year was sponsorship deals for amateur players. The United States Golf Association (USGA), which oversees world golf rules, and the R&A, a British golf organization, amended the relevant regulations allowing amateur players to sponsor contracts in January of last year, and they were in a hurry.
This year, more companies are actively recruiting amateur players, such as KB Financial Group, Samchully, and Hite Jinro. The companies that recently participated in the recruitment of amateur players are CJ Group and Woori Financial Group. CJ Group, sponsoring Im Seong-jae (25), Kim Si-woo (28), Lee Gyeong-hun (32), and Park Geum-gang (22), who are active on the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour and the LPGA Tour, is the first amateur in history. recruited players.메이저사이트
The amateurs chosen by the CJ Group are Lim Ji-yu (18), a Korean national representative, and Chris Kim (17, Korean name: Kim Dong-han), an English national representative. CJ Group, which reviewed amateur players with excellent potential for a long time, finally selected the two players and signed a sponsorship contract from this year to 2025. Woori Financial Group is similar to CJ Group. Woori Financial Group, which has been watching for more than a year, focusing on amateur players who will lead the future of Korean men’s golf, has chosen amateur Cho Woo-young (22) to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
Unlike professional players who can wear hats with the logo of sponsored companies in all competitions, amateur players have many restrictions. A typical example is that national team players cannot wear sponsor hats in competitions where they compete as national representatives. Although the effect of brand exposure is insignificant, many companies are actively recruiting amateur players because of the preoccupation effect. Signing a formal contract after turning professional has become difficult after the revision of regulations related to amateur players last year, so it is moving quickly.
An official from CJ Group said, “Since last year when it was possible to sponsor amateur players, we have watched amateur players from various countries. We put a lot of effort into finding amateur players with excellent potential and character. Jiyu Lim and Chris, who signed contracts this year, I have high expectations for Kim, and I will spare no support so that both players can achieve their desired goals.”
The competition to recruit amateur players is not a phenomenon that only occurs in Korea. Golf club players attending famous universities in the United States and promising players ahead of challenges such as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Asian Tour are receiving love calls from various companies even before their professional debut. Sam Bennett (USA), who was selected as the best amateur in the Masters Tournament that ended on the 10th (Korean time), is already a representative amateur player sponsored by Suncast and Ping.