2023 Korean Tour

2023 Korean Tour season
Duration13 April 2023 (2023-04-13) – 12 November 2023 (2023-11-12)
Number of official events22
Most winsSouth Korea Koh Gun-taek (3)
Order of MeritSouth Korea Ham Jeong-woo
Player of the YearSouth Korea Ham Jeong-woo
Rookie of the YearSouth Korea Park Sung-joon
2022
2024

The 2023 Korean Tour was the 46th season on the Korean Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Korea since it was formed in 1978.

European Tour strategic alliance extension

Following the strategic alliance partnership signed with the European Tour in December 2022,[1] the season marked the inaugural edition of the Korea Championship, the first time the Korean Tour had co-sanctioned an event with the European Tour since 2013.[2] Following the conclusion of the event, a new extension to the strategic alliance was announced in May by the European Tour. As part of the extension, an additional two players (three in total) from the Korean Tour Order of Merit were awarded European Tour (DP World Tour) status for the following season.[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2023 season.[4][5]

Date Tournament Location Purse
()
Winner[a] OWGR
points
Other
tours[b]
Notes
16 Apr DB Insurance Promy Open Gangwon 700,000,000 South Korea Koh Gun-taek (1) 3.18
23 Apr Golfzon Open in Jeju Jeju 700,000,000 South Korea Cho Woo-young (a) (1) 3.57 New tournament
30 Apr Korea Championship Gyeonggi US$2,000,000 Spain Pablo Larrazábal (n/a) 17.05 EUR New tournament
7 May GS Caltex Maekyung Open Jeju 1,300,000,000 South Korea Jung Chan-min (1) 6.29 ASA
14 May Woori Financial Group Championship Gyeonggi 1,500,000,000 South Korea Im Sung-jae (2) 5.56
21 May SK Telecom Open Jeju 1,300,000,000 South Korea Baek Seuk-hyun (1) 4.17
28 May KB Financial Liiv Championship Gyeonggi 700,000,000 South Korea Kim Dong-min (1) 3.58
4 Jun Descente Korea Munsingwear Matchplay North Chungcheong 800,000,000 South Korea Lee Jae-kyeong (3) 3.54
11 Jun KPGA Championship South Gyeongsang 1,500,000,000 South Korea Choi Seung-bin (1) 4.19
18 Jun Hana Bank Invitational Japan ¥100,000,000 South Korea Yang Ji-ho (2) 7.33 JPN
25 Jun Kolon Korea Open South Chungcheong 1,350,000,000 United States Seungsu Han (2) 6.43 ASA
23 Jul Honors K Sollago CC Han Jangsang Invitational South Chungcheong 500,000,000 South Korea Koh Gun-taek (2) 3.63
27 Aug KPGA Gunsan CC Open North Jeolla 500,000,000 South Korea Jang Yu-bin (a) (1) 3.66
3 Sep LX Championship Gyeonggi 600,000,000 South Korea Kim Bi-o (9) 3.78
10 Sep Shinhan Donghae Open Gyeonggi 1,400,000,000 South Korea Koh Gun-taek (3) 8.52 ASA, JPN
17 Sep Bizplay Electronic Times Open Gyeonggi 700,000,000 South Korea Kim Chan-woo (1) 2.91
24 Sep iMBank Open South Gyeongsang 500,000,000 South Korea Hur In-hoi (5) 3.27
8 Oct Hyundai Insurance KJ Choi Invitational Gyeonggi 1,250,000,000 South Korea Ham Jeong-woo (3) 3.37
15 Oct Genesis Championship Gyeonggi 1,500,000,000 South Korea Park Sang-hyun (12) 5.62
29 Oct Baeksang Holdings-Asiad CC Busan Open South Gyeongsang 1,000,000,000 South Korea Eom Jae-woong (2) 4.80
5 Nov Golfzon-Toray Open North Gyeongsang 700,000,000 South Korea Jung Chan-min (2) 3.64
12 Nov LG Signature Players Championship Gyeonggi 1,300,000,000 South Korea Shin Sang-hun (2) 2.86

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Genesis Points and was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[6] The top three players on the Order of Merit earned status to play on the 2024 European Tour (DP World Tour).[7][8]

Position Player Points Status earned
1 South Korea Ham Jeong-woo 6,062 Promoted to European Tour
2 South Korea Lee Jung-hwan 5,205
3 South Korea Park Sang-hyun 5,136
4 South Korea Koh Gun-taek 5,108
5 South Korea Kang Kyung-nam 5,004

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Player of the Year (Grand Prize Award) South Korea Ham Jeong-woo [8]
Rookie of the Year (Myeong-chul Award) South Korea Park Sung-joon [9]

Notes

  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Korean Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Korean Tour members.
  2. ^ ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour; JPN − Japan Golf Tour.

References

  1. ^ "DP World Tour, PGA Tour announce expansion of relationship with Korea Professional Golfers' Association". European Tour. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. ^ "DP World Tour announces global 2023 schedule". PGA Tour. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  3. ^ "DP World Tour and KPGA formalise relationship with new Strategic Alliance". European Tour. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ "2023 Tournament schedule" (in Korean). KPGA. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Korean events confirmed on Asian Tour schedule". Asian Tour. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  6. ^ "2023 Points standings" (in Korean). KPGA. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  7. ^ "PGA Tour Q-School 및 DPWT 특전 적용 시점 관련 안내" [PGA Tour Q-School and DPWT Benefits Applied] (in Korean). KPGA. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  8. ^ a b Kim, Dong-chan (12 November 2023). "KPGA 코리안투어 대상 함정우 "미국·유럽 무대 도전하겠다"" [KPGA Korean Tour Grand Prize winner Ham Jeong-woo "I will challenge the U.S. and European stage"]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 12 November 2023. 대상 수상으로 보너스 상금 1억원, 제네시스 차량, 투어 시드 5년, 미국프로골프(PGA) 투어 퀄리파잉스쿨 최종전 직행 자격, DP 월드투어 시드 1년 등의 특전을 확보한 함정우는 경기 후 인터뷰에서... [In a post-match interview, Ham Jeong-woo, who secured 100 million won in bonus prize money, a Genesis car, a five-year tour seed, a direct qualification to the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying School, and a one-year DP World Tour seed...]
  9. ^ "2023 Castelbajac Rookie of the Year" (in Korean). KPGA. Retrieved 13 November 2023.