[Maeil Business Newspaper] Screen Golf Rivaling the Course Surpasses KRW 11 Billion in Prize Money Over Nine Years

Maeil Business Newspaper reported that GTOUR, GOLFZON’s screen golf tour, has surpassed KRW 11 billion in cumulative prize money as it enters its ninth year since its launch in 2012. The total prize money in 2020 was approximately KRW 2 billion, an increase of KRW 600 million from the previous year, and the number of registered screen golf tour professionals rose from 588 in 2012 to 2,600 as of 2019, more than quadrupling in just eight years. The paper added that the prize money for winning a single event has grown to KRW 20 million, exceeding the winning prize money of the KPGA and KLPGA second-tier tours.

Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the status of the screen golf tour is rising, with players from the KPGA and KLPGA tours steadily joining GTOUR and an increasing number of players competing on both the course and the screen. It noted that the screen golf population reached 3.9 million as of 2018, more than double the figure in 2012, which is another factor supporting the tour’s success.

Maeil Business Newspaper reported that, starting this year, GOLFZON has consolidated its brand names, previously divided into GTOUR and WGTOUR, into the “GTOUR Men’s Tournament” and “GTOUR Women’s Tournament,” and is set to expand the scale and content of its events with the goal of relaunching as a global tour.