Golfzon Chairman Kim Young-chan was selected as the fifth most powerful person in the Asian golf industry by Golf Inc., a prestigious US golf industry magazine, in its November-December 2018 issue. Chairman Kim also won double crown from the Asia Pacific Golf Group: the 2018 Asia Pacific Hall of Fame Award and the most powerful person of 2018 in Asian golf.
Golf Inc. noted that Golfzon, founded by Chairman Kim, acquired Leadbetter Golf Academy and Deca System Inc. (currently Golfzon Deca), maker of the GolfBuddy GPS rangefinder system, this year. Acquiring Leadbetter Golf Academy positions Golfzon as a key player in the global golf education field, the magazine reported. The procurement of Deca System is part of Golfzon’s plan to expand into technologies that can be applied in the golf course operations industry. Golfzon is utilizing Deca’s data of actual measurements on 60,000 golf courses in the world and range-finding device technology.
“Since it was founded by Chairman Kim in 2000, Golfzon has grown annual sales by leaps and bounds and additionally, some 40,000 workers are employed in the screen golf industry and millions of dollars of brand value has been created,” the Asia Pacific Golf Group said. “Golfzon’s simulators have made the playing of indoor “screen golf” a sensation. Young people are flocking to the game, and Golfzon cafes have become social hubs and after-hours meeting points for workers of all ages. The award was given to Chairman Kim in recognition of his contributions to golf industry and golf popularization.”
During the 2018 Asian Golf Awards, Kim was inducted into the 2018 Asia Pacific Hall of Fame together with legendary Australian golfer Greg Norman.
Golfzon has about 2.5 million members as of 2017, and as many as 55 million rounds of golf are played on its simulators each year. It holds GTOUR and WGTOUR, simulated golf tours for Korean pro golfers, since 2012. Golfzon is strengthening its position as a company spreading a new golf culture worldwide through its Golfzon Live Festival which hosts about 350 amateur tournaments daily.